


i can’t heal your body, but maybe i can mend your soul

by herwhiteknight



Category: RWBY
Genre: (for blake and adam), Abusive Relationships, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blake still has her cat ears 'cause I say so, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, and No it is not sexual, in which Yang is the massage therapist, it wont be for smut reasons, more characters will be added as they appear - Freeform, pyrrha's gonn get a gf later. i Have Plans, rating Might go up to M in later chapters, tagged ruby and yang's sister relationship bc of the focus it's been getting, the Massage Therapist AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-26
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2019-08-02 23:56:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 30,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16315121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/herwhiteknight/pseuds/herwhiteknight
Summary: Blake remembers her being beautiful. She remembers the way her beauty was more than just the way that her lilac eyes shone like the sunset reflecting off a peaceful ocean expanse. It was the depth underneath the light, the soul beneath that genuinely seemed to care. That's what Blake remembers the most. Not that she was beautiful, but that her beauty pulled her out of her own terrible mind.(aka the massage therapist!yang au that no one at all asked for)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Full disclosure: I know _exactly_ what I'm talking about when it comes to putting Yang in a massage therapist position, because that's what I do for a living. I still tried to make it as relatable as possible, but if anything doesn't make sense, feel free to leave your questions in the comments. 
> 
> That being said, I hope you guys enjoy this AU and have as much fun reading it as I am having writing it! It will be a multichapter fic, but I'm not entirely sure how long it'll go on for -- my track record with multichapter fics is... not that great. But I do have a general idea where I want this fic to land (and don't worry, it's a happy spot!) so hopefully the rest of the "in between" pieces will come together at least... mostly neatly.
> 
> Also a huge, huge, _huge_ thank you to Cindy for reading through all this and screaming at me as I went along and gave me her feedback on the bits and pieces I sent her constantly. Your help has been so greatly appreciated, seriously. Thank you so much. :)

Yang sighed after the end of a long shift. Three patients wasn’t _too_ bad, but she had gotten too little sleep last night and one of her regulars had too much to say today. Not that Yang wasn’t ever up for good conversation, but she wasn’t a psychologist and therefore had nothing much to offer except a listening ear and some sympathetic words. Which usually worked with this lady except for the odd day and, well, today had been one of those days.

She had just finished up the last of her notes on her final patient when Nora knocked on her office door. “Yeah?” Yang called, signing off the treatment plan.

Nora had this _look_ on her face as she opened the door. “Uh, Yang, there’s somebody here for you.”

“If it’s Ruby, just tell her I’ll be done in a few-”

“No… she’s a walk-in.”

“A _walk-in_?” Yang grumbled in disbelief, checking the clock on the wall. _Shit,_ she’d be here until closing now if she took this patient. Which she wasn’t exactly about to do. “Look, normally I would, but I told Ruby I’d be meeting her for dinner and a work out and I’m just really, _really_ not-”

“Yang, she looks… like she could use it,” was all Nora said. Which _did_ pique Yang’s interest to say the least - but nothing beyond little more than curiosity. She started to feel a headache settle in and made a mental note to ask Pyrrha for a trade sometime later in the week. _God. Mondays._

“Pyrrha’s already got a patient?” she confirmed rhetorically as she followed Nora out to the front of the clinic. She didn’t know what made her ask - she already knew because she had teased Pyrrha earlier in the day about being able to leave early. As Nora nodded, Yang lowered her voice for one more question, “And she’s _specifically_ here for massage, _not_ for physio or acupuncture?”

Nora stopped just before the waiting room and put her hands on her hips and cocked her head slightly. She may have been just a receptionist, but when she looked at someone like _that,_ it was best just to shut up and listen. “Just take one look at her alright? If something doesn’t tug at your tough little heartstrings, then I’ll let _you_ be the one to say no to her, okay?”

 _Oh boy._ Well, it wasn’t like Yang was going to _try_ to be all cold-hearted to turn this person away, but she _was_ just going to let her exhaustion speak for her. And besides, it’s not like she’d be turning this person away indefinitely, she’d just tell them to come back later during her scheduled hours. That was the plan and, as Nora settled back into her position at the front desk, that was the plan that Yang was going to stick to.

 _Was_ going to stick to.

As Yang rounded the corner that separated the clinic space from the waiting area, she immediately took in the appearance of the one and only person sitting raggedly in the chair in the farthest corner of the room. What she _could_ see of this woman, anyway. She sat in her chair like she was trying to be as small as possible, her dark hair hanging down in a soaked curtain that hid her face. Yang glanced out past her through the front windows of the clinic - she hadn’t even been aware of what was practically a torrential thunderstorm outside.

_Shit. Did she… walk here? In that?_

“Hi there,” Yang started off gently, because the woman hadn’t been looking up and Yang didn’t want to startle her.

To no avail, though. The woman jumped violently in her seat, her hair swinging wildly, her ears twitching towards the source of Yang’s voice, droplets of water spattering from both hair and fur. Amber eyes found Yang’s gaze and Yang felt her breath catch.

In Yang’s professional opinion… she looked like _shit._ And yet she was _still_ the most beautiful woman Yang had ever seen. “I’m Yang, I’m one of the massage therapists here and I’ll be treating you this evening,” she held out her hand, and internally thanked her automatic introduction script for keeping her from tripping over her tongue and embarrassing herself. She’d have plenty of chances to do that in the next hour though.

“Blake,” she replied as she took Yang’s hand with cold fingers, her other hand tucking some her hair behind her left human ear.

“It’s nice to meet you, Blake,” Yang smiled, and desperately tried not to drown in Blake’s troubled gaze as she held onto Blake’s hand a little longer than necessary. Just to.. warm her hand up a little bit. Transfer some heat, and all that. And not at all because Blake’s eyes sorta made her forget how to function.

“Yang,” Nora’s voice pushed through the bubble that had formed around them like a surface tension, popping the reality where nothing else else existed but Blake’s eyes and a faltering grin. “Here’s the forms that she needs to fill out before treatment,” Nora waved a clipboard in Yang’s direction from behind the desk, as if Yang had forgotten about protocol simply because of a pretty girl. Which she had.

“Oh! Right,” Yang said, taking the clipboard from Nora sheepishly and catching her exasperated eye roll before turning around and passing the forms to Blake. “So, uh, you just need to fill these out and I’ll go and get the room ready for you while you’re doing.. um, that. And Nora can help you with any questions you might have,” Yang said as she passed Blake a pen.

“Thank you, Yang,” Blake said softly as she took the pen, that same heat flashing between them as their fingers brushed.

“Uh yep! You're welcome!” Yang swung her arms awkwardly before stuffing her hands into the pockets of her scrub pants as she looked at Blake for a moment longer.

“You had a room to get ready?” Blake quirked an eyebrow at her slightly, her amber eyes flashing amusedly for just a moment. Behind the desk, Nora didn't even _try_ to cover up a snort.

“Right! Yes,” Yang bobbed her head. “Okay, I'll be back for you in a few minutes then. Yep. Uh, bye.”

Away from the front desk and out of earshot, Yang allowed herself to blow out a long breath as she tugged at the base of her ponytail, tightening it from where it was falling out of the confines of her hair tie. “Okay Yang,” she told herself as she made quick work of stripping the sheets from the table and wiping down the vinyl underneath. “Just be cool. You’re a professional, you’ve done this for over two years, you can handle yourself. It’s fine.”

Gathering up the laundry in a bundle under one arm, she glanced at the clock on her way to the laundry hamper and reasoned that by the time Blake finished filling out the health history form and also factoring in the quick verbal assessment Yang always did before getting her patients on the table, the actual treatment time would probably only be a little less than forty-five minutes. Totally something Yang could handle.

“Yang, file’s ready!”

 _Totally. Shit._ Shit, _she was fast._

“Just a sec!” she called back to Nora as she nearly smashed her knee into the clean linen cupboard as she opened it to grab a fresh set of sheets. Before running - _we don’t run in this clinic, we power walk_ , Winter’s voice sounded in her ear - back into the room and doing an absolute rush job of setting up the table. Even though the gay panic in the back of her head _screamed_ for perfection, she really didn’t want to keep Blake waiting.

“Hi, yes. Hi. Blake, you ready?” Yang asked, barely attempting to slow her pace before reaching the waiting area. Behind her desk, Nora was typing a little _too intently_ at her computer - and if Yang bothered to look as she swiped Blake’s completed file from the desk, she would’ve seen the smirk fighting its way onto her face.

Even through Yang’s adrenaline, she could see the way that Blake tensed up at Yang’s question, like she was regretting the decision to come here and suddenly wanted to turn tail and leave. But instead she just shot a nervous glance towards the front door and stood up, nodding. “Lead the way, Yang,” Blake said as Yang nodded and tucked the file under her arm before burying her hands deep in her pockets again.

“So, uh…,” Yang started to say as she led Blake to her massage room at the back of the clinic. _How was your day? Did you have a good weekend? Crazy thunderstorm, right?_ All perfectly valid, acceptable questions. Could’ve picked anything. Instead, “You’re all wet.”

Blake glanced down at herself with a look of mild realization, as if she hadn’t noticed before. “Oh, I’m so sorry!” she immediately started apologizing, her arms coming up to wrap around her shoulders, her chin dipping towards her chest to hide her face. “I didn’t really know, I mean… I had just left and I didn’t check the weather and-”

Yang felt something awful fall deep into the pit of her stomach, a heavy weight settling somewhere in the recesses of her lungs. Something bad had happened to her. And Yang didn’t know what she could do. “It’s okay,” she reassured softly, stopping just outside the door to her room. She held herself back from placing a comforting hand on Blake’s shoulder - something small inside of her whispered that it’d just make things worse.

“No, no no, I.. came in like _this_ and now there’s water all over and I _sat down in that chair_ and now I’ve followed you, and I'll just ruin something else-”

“Blake,” Yang said gently, ducking her head so that her eyes met Blake’s at her level. And all she saw, swimming through the grief, was fossilized anguish. “Don’t worry about all that, okay? It’s just water, it’ll dry. Promise.”

Blake didn’t apologize again, but didn’t disagree with Yang either. It was like she had learned a long time ago that acquiescing and staying silent were the best courses of action in any given circumstance. And Yang just felt her heart break all over again.

“You know what!” Yang perked up, trying to bring back that small smile that she’d coaxed out earlier. “Speaking of things drying, we could totally toss your clothes in the dryer here while I work on you! Then you’ll have some nice warm clothes to wear when you’re all done!”

“But,” Blake said, tilting her head as her ears twitched atop her head and one hand fell back to her side, her posture opening up a bit more once again. Yang felt a small surge of victory. “If I give you my clothes, then what am I supposed to wear?”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got that covered,” Yang winked. Then immediately died. “Uh, I mean… there’s a sheet that I will.. _cover_ you up with, and I can get you one of the gowns that the physio patients use if you’d like-”

Blake laughed. _Actually_ laughed. And Yang died yet again. “A gown would be lovely, thank you,” she said, covering a smile with her hand as her gaze dropped to the floor.

“Okay, well, I’ll get that for you in just a moment,” Yang mirrored Blake’s smile unconsciously before gesturing towards the more dimly lit room just before them. “First I just gotta ask a few more questions about your health history here, then we can go from there! Sound good?”

Yang could see the tension return in Blake's back and shoulders as she followed her and shut the door behind them. But when Blake turned around, her face was a blank, unreadable mask. And Yang was usually a good judge of emotions. “That's fine,” she said, her eyes flickering over Yang's shoulder to the door for a brief moment.

 _Always looking for exits_ , Yang noted, that heavy weight returning to her lungs. But she pushed it to the side and settled onto her rolling stool, gesturing for Blake to take the folding chair opposite as she flipped open Blake's file. “Belladonna? That's a nice name,” Yang commented almost absently as she skimmed the checkboxes and short answers. “You have such nice handwriting too!”

“Thank you.. it's Italian, actually,” Blake said, then blinked as if she wasn't sure why she'd said that at all.

“What's it mean? If you know, that is,” Yang asked, glancing away from the forms for a moment to catch Blake's response.

“ _Beautiful woman._ ” Yang almost choked on her own spit. “At least,” Blake continued, “that's what my parents told me a long time ago.”

“Oh, uh… well that's, um. Accurate. To say the least,” she finished under her breath, returning her eyes to Blake's file. “Everything else checks out then!” Yang declared, closing the folder and knowing full well that she'd have to reread it while Blake got ready. “You said you wanted a gown, right?”

Blake didn't respond - but her silence was nowhere near as heavy as before. “No one's ever called me that before,” she said in a strange voice just as Yang was about to ask what was wrong.

“What?” Yang asked obliviously. Even though she should've known _exactly_ where this was going.

Blake blushed and shook her head for a moment, her ears flattening against her head as if she wasn't going to answer. Then, “Beautiful.”

“Oh…,” Yang murmured softly, feeling a blush crawl its way up her cheeks at Blake’s quiet reply. “Um,” she chanced a glance in Blake’s direction, “well still, it must be true! It’s right there in your name! And even if it wasn’t… well. Then it’d still be true.”

“Thank you, Yang,” Blake said, her ears perking up as a small smile made an appearance. And Yang was _thrilled_ \- she got the feeling, somehow, that Blake wasn’t exactly so free with her expressions of joy. If she were ever _in_ many situations that called for them.

“Of course, Blake,” Yang replied with her own grin as she picked up Blake’s file and stood. “I’ll just go get you that gown and then I’ll be right back, okay?”

“Okay,” she said. Yang caught her fidgeting nervously in her chair and glancing around her surroundings before leaving the room and shutting the door.

She stood for a long moment outside the door, just trying to process exactly what had just happened in the last few minutes. And she couldn’t shake the feeling that her life wasn’t going to be the same as it had been just a few short minutes ago. _Best deal with that later._ “For now…,” she muttered, moving almost automatically back to the linen cupboard, “Gown. Yep.”

“You’re all wet? _Really, Yang?_ ”

 _Oh_ shit, _Nora had heard that._ “Fuck off, Nora,” Yang rolled her eyes, swiping a gown from the cabinet and kicking it closed.

“Not something you’re planning on saying to her, I hope?” Nora waggled her eyebrows as she bounced towards Yang, clearly leaving her post.

Yang blatantly ignored the way her heart twisted not-so-unpleasantly at Nora’s insinuation and instead attempted to divert her attention back to _actual_ pertinent work. _Like_ that _ever worked on her._ “Don’t you have some filing to do? Or, like, actual scheduled patients to check in?”

Nora waved dismissively as she leaned up against the counter next to Yang, “Pyrrha’s patient doesn’t come in for the next few minutes, so it’s not like it’s gonna matter anyway! Besides, she's a regular, she knows me!”

“Okay well, I’m getting back to work now, Nora! Bye Nora!” Yang playfully shouldered past her, triple-checking that she actually did indeed have the gown in hand.

“You know Winter’s policy about therapist-patient relationships!” she called after her and Yang almost tripped, nearly stopping dead in her tracks as she prayed that Nora hadn’t _just_ shouted loud enough for Blake to hear through the closed door. Then again, it _was_ Nora. _Shit_. 

Pausing in front of the door, she took in a breath to calm her nerves that she suddenly felt for absolutely _no reason_ \- and then knocked. “Blake? May I come in?”

“Yes,” came Blake’s gentle voice from beyond the door. Yang nodded to the clueless butterflies in her stomach, steeling herself once more before stepping back into the room.

Nothing had changed. And Yang wasn’t sure exactly why she’d expected anything to. Maybe it was because usually her patients were ready and waiting underneath the sheets whenever she re-entered the room. But of course that wouldn’t’ve been the case here. Blake had requested the gown. Which Yang then held out, practically shoving it in her face. “Here,” she said, a little abruptly. “The opening is meant to be towards the back. Like a snuggie!” _Oh my god. You did_ not _just say that._

Another small smile lifted the corners of Blake’s lips just a little bit, and Yang didn’t even care anymore about making a fool out of herself. Not if it got Blake to smile like that. “And where should I put my clothes after?”

“Oh, you can just hand them to me. After I leave! This room, I mean,” Yang said, floundering. It _was_ in her job description to ask patient’s to undress to their level of comfort in order to provide the best treatment possible but… she’d honestly never encountered someone so instantly captivating as Blake before. “So.. I’ll just, um, be outside the door and you can… give them to me. Yep.” Blake just blinked at her, which Yang took as a dismissal. “I’ll be outside,” she said, bobbing her head before leaving the room once more.

“What are you still doing here?” Yang turned around at the sound of Pyrrha’s voice. “Were you not just gloating earlier about getting to leave before closing?”

Oh, karma came back _real quick_ on that one. “Um…,” Yang started, kicking her toe into the carpet, “well, I got a last minute walk-in, see-”

The door opened just then, and a pile of sodden clothes appeared, held out by Blake’s hand. “Yang? You said I could give these to you,” she said, poking her head out shyly to look for Yang before noticing Pyrrha standing next to her. She pulled back ever so slightly at the appearance of someone new, her eyes finding Yang’s uneasily.

“Here, I’ll take those and get them into the dryer for you,” Yang said, reaching for the clothes and pointedly ignored how loudly her brain was screaming about how cute Blake managed to look in the unflattering hospital gown. Noting Blake’s continued unease, she sought to rectify the situation and gestured to Pyrrha with her free hand, “Blake, this is my friend Pyrrha. She’s another massage therapist at the clinic here.”

Pyrrha waved with a gentle smile, “Hello! It’s lovely to meet you.”

“You too,” Blake replied automatically as she shifted on her feet, still hiding behind the door like a barrier. She didn’t really look at Pyrrha, choosing to keep her gaze pointed in Yang’s direction.

“Well, I should be going. Nora just notified me of my patient’s arrival a moment ago,” Pyrrha said, smiling at Blake once more as she left.

“Yeah, alright, tell Cinder I said hi!” Yang called to her before turning her attention back to Blake. “Sorry about all that. You’re here for treatment and we’re just taking up your time.”

“No, that’s okay, I… didn’t have anywhere else to go tonight,” Blake finished quietly.

Yang paused at the unreadable tone, but ultimately decided not to push it. She seemed so fragile already. “Well!” she said, bouncing on her toes once, “I’m glad you ended up here then. I’ll just put these in the dryer for you while you get on the table, okay?”

She was about to turn around when she caught Blake’s expression out of the corner of her eye. “Is everything alright?”

“I.. don’t really know what to do,” she admitted. “I’ve never been allowed-” she cut herself off, changing her words midbreath. “I’ve never gotten a massage before.”

Yang processed several things all at once. First, that she _completely forgot_ to explain the basic treatment procedure to Blake. Second, that literally _everyone_ in the clinic would _never_ let her live down just how much of a useless lesbian she was being. Third, that someone was controlling Blake’s life and her decisions.

Which, in Yang’s mind, made it even more crucial that Blake knew that she was in absolute control for the duration of the treatment. Anything she wasn’t comfortable with was off the table. Quite literally. “Oh, of course! Sorry about that! I was a little distracted,” Yang said, stepping back into the room. She wasn’t even going to try to hide how much of a gay disaster Blake made her at this point, really.

“So!” Yang started off, doing her best impression of Vanna White as she gestured to the table and sheets. “We’ve got the top sheet and blanket here,” she said as she flipped back the covers, “And then this sheet underneath here. You’ll just be lying on your stomach to start, underneath the blanket here - if that’s okay with you, that is! If you’d rather lie face up first, that’s fine too. Whatever is most comfortable for you. We’ll probably just work on one area tonight because-” Yang cut herself off as she looked at the clock, “ _Shit_ , there’s only like, half an hour left? How’d that even happen…”

“If that’s not enough time, it’s okay, I can just go-”

“Nonsense!” Yang reassured her gently, “Half an hour is plenty of time, trust me! Is there any area in particular that you’d like to be worked on?”

“I’m fine,” Blake said automatically, like it was a knee-jerk reaction to keep out of trouble and out of the way.

Yang arched an eyebrow but didn’t push it - as much as she wanted to. She needed to get Blake’s clothes in the dryer anyway if they had any hope of being remotely dry before they needed to lock up the clinic. “Okay well, just get yourself comfortable on the table however you like! I’ll knock in a little bit when you’re ready.”

“Sure,” Blake nodded, running her hand absently over the fuzzy top blanket as Yang turned again to leave the room, closing the door on Blake hesitantly lifting the blanket off the table.  

“Alright,” Yang muttered to herself, “these clothes are getting into the dryer, and I’ll just turn it up to the highest heat setting… yeah.”

“Just casually breaking more of Winter’s rules for some walk-in?” Nora appeared unexpectedly in the hall behind her as Yang slammed the dryer door shut, loud enough to hopefully cover her small shriek.

“ _Stop_ sneaking up on me like that! You little shit,” Yang snapped, playfully wrestling Nora into a headlock. “And she’s _not_ just a walk-in - you said _that_ as much yourself,” Yang finished as Nora pried her arms open and freed herself.

“I’ll make sure to keep this _extraneous clinic expense_ off of Winter’s radar for you,” Nora teased, but softened after a moment, noticing Yang’s troubled expression. “I get the feeling that you’re exactly the kind of person that she needs right now, Yang. Whatever she’s going through.”

“Yeah,” Yang nodded quietly, “I just.. I hope I can help her.”

“Well, not if you stand around here talking with me, silly!” Nora shoved her back towards the room, clearly sensing her hesitation. “And you’ll be fine, you know?” she read between the lines, “You’ve been working for, like, two years! And you _know_ your stuff. There’s no need to be nervous just because she’s a pretty girl, or whatever!”

“If you say so,” Yang sighed, dropping tension from her shoulders. “I’ll see you in a little bit then.”

She approached the door and lifted her hand to knock softly. “Blake?” she asked, tapping a knuckle. “May I come in?” At Blake’s soft sound of affirmation, Yang opened the door to find Blake on her back, blankets tucked all the way up around her chin.

She looked fucking _adorable._ Yang shook her head inwardly, dimming the lights slightly so that Blake wasn’t staring straight up at them and hurting her eyes. _Business first Yang,_ she reminded herself. “Are you comfortable? I can adjust the headrest and pillow if you’d like.”

“No, I’m okay,” Blake said, even as she shifted underneath the blanket.

Yang eyed the angle of her neck and the position of her knees and decided that the headrest and pillow could stay as they were for the shorter duration of the treatment. “Alright, so,” she said, settling down onto her rolling stool and scooting around to Blake’s head. “I think I’ll just work on your head and neck for the short time we have here, if that sounds alright to you?”

“I have had a bit of a headache lately,” Blake admitted, her eyes darting upwards to meet Yang’s for a moment before looking away again. “If there’s anything you can do for that, that is.”

“Oh, of course!” Yang said, settling her hands softly on top of Blake’s shoulders, on either side of her head. “I’m biased, but I think massage is one of the best things to help with stress headaches, or headaches that are caused by muscle tension.” Yang pushed down gently on both of Blake’s shoulders, one at a time, giving the upper trapezius a bit of a stretch. “Which you’ve got a lot of up here in the shoulders, actually,” she said, noting the resistance.

“Is that.. something to be worried about?”

“No, no! Not at all,” Yang reassured her. “It’s really common for stress to manifest as shoulder tension for most people actually! I mean, different areas of the body can hold stress for different people, but, yeah. Shoulders, especially the upper traps here? That's where tension goes usually.”

“That's good for you, isn't it?” Blake asked with a small grin. “Keeps you in business.”

“Well, yeah! That’s true I suppose,” Yang laughed, sliding her hands underneath Blake’s shoulder blades on top of the table. “But this is one business that you’d rather not see your patients come back, because it means that they’re not in pain, you know?”

“You don’t worry about them?” Blake said in a small voice, and it was almost like she was asking something else entirely.

“I like to think the best of people’s situations,” Yang replied gently, softening her touch as she worked through the tension in Blake’s shoulders, most of which seemed to be in Blake’s head. Like she was always thinking and not ever really breathing.

Blake fell silent after that, like the optimism in Yang’s words pained her like a faded bruise. Something she remembered, but not quite something she could still feel. And in the silence, Yang was left with her own thoughts swirling around too - not uncommon for her during some sessions, especially the late, end-of-day ones.

But the thoughts weren’t her usual daydreams or checklists. They were of Blake. Which if Nora or Ruby or, god forbid, _Weiss_ , were to find out about them, they’d definitely call her out for daydreaming. She could tell them all she wanted that she was _just concerned,_ because she _was_ , but they would never believe it. Though she didn’t think any of them would call her out for being curious about the circumstances that brought a woman not much younger than herself out into the pouring rain just to get a massage.

Yang’s hands worked absentmindedly, finishing up with her shoulders and moving on to the back of her neck. As she started her initial warm up stroke, flat fingers pressing gently in at the base of the neck and pulling slowly upwards, she instantly noticed Blake’s tension return. What little of it she’d managed to work out in ten short minutes, that was.

“Is everything okay?” she asked quietly, as not to startle her further. She stilled her hands for the moment to allow Blake to reply, just in case there was something about the treatment that was causing her discomfort. “Has the pressure been alright?”

“The pressure’s been fine,” Blake said, pausing for a moment as she took in a deep breath. “It’s just… I don’t like people touching my neck, usually, but-”

“ _Fuck_ , Blake, I’m so - I’m sorry, I should’ve asked-”

“I’m.. _okay._ That it’s you, I mean,” Blake cut her off quickly, relaxing back into the cradle of Yang’s hands. Yang fell silent at Blake’s admission. “I don’t know if it’s because it’s your training or if it’s just because it’s _you,_ but… I feel.. _safe_ here. With you.”

Yang was speechless, with nothing but a soft stunned noise falling from her lips, “Oh.” She tried to find her voice, “Blake that’s….”

“I know, it’s ridiculous,” Blake laughed at herself, but it wasn’t pleasant. As if she was just used to her ideas being put down and belittled. “Because we just met and you probably think I’m just this crazy girl who walks around in the middle of thunderstorms just for fun-”

“I didn’t think any of those things about you,” Yang said carefully, not wanting to scare Blake off with anything she said next, but also wanting to tell her the truth. “It’s my job to help people, no matter where they’re coming from in life or what they’re going through. That’s what you needed when you came in tonight, right? Just some help, like any of the rest of us. We all need it every now and then. No shame in that.”

It wasn’t _really_ the answer Yang wanted to give, and she really hated using one of her more generic responses because Blake deserved _more_ but it seemed to help her all the same. Which was all Yang could ask for at this point. “Thank you,” Blake murmured, her eyes fluttering softly closed as her ears twitched in contentment.

Yang hummed back, not wanting to further break the quiet moment that had settled around them. Her hands were still at Blake’s neck though. “Would you.. still be alright if I continued working on your neck? I can work somewhere else if you want, like your hands?”

“No, I.. I would like you to continue. Please,” Blake said as a rumble low in her throat. “It feels nice. And the pressure’s been perfect.”

“Sure thing,” Yang said, cupping the back of Blake’s neck once more, squeezing the soft tissue between her palms and fingers, which elicited a soft sigh from Blake’s lips. Yang couldn’t help but fist pump internally at that as she kept working.

All too soon, Yang found herself glancing at the clock to realize that the session was supposed to finish seven minutes ago. Which meant that the clinic was closed. _Shit._ “Blake?” Yang called softly, sliding her hands out slowly from underneath Blake’s shoulders and rolling back on her stool as she stood up.

“Mmh?” she mumbled, blinking slowly as she turned her head towards the sound of Yang’s voice.

 _Well great, she looked even_ cuter _now._ She managed to reign in the sudden explosion in her heart and keep her voice from wavering. And yet again, she found herself thanking her script that she’d developed over the past two years. “We're all out of time for tonight, unfortunately.”

Blake yawned and blinked her eyes open slowly, squinting against the dimmed lights on the ceiling above her. “That’s it?” she asked, coming back to reality with the smallest of frowns tugging at the corners of her lips.

“Unfortunately,” Yang repeated, but meaning it with the utmost sincerity - unlike finishing treatment on _some_ of her patients. “How are you feeling?”

Blake took in a deep breath, turning her head left and right, testing it. “Really good,” she said, sounding surprised. “I didn’t know anything like this could help so much.”

“Most people don’t,” Yang laughed as she operated the foot pedal to bring the table closer down towards the floor. “They just think it’s only for relaxation, you know? Spas only kind of thing. But there’s a lot more therapeutic benefits to it than just reducing stress. Especially if you can find a therapist who can really work well with you.”

“Well, I don’t think I have to worry about that,” Blake said, smiling up at Yang.

“Oh. Alright,” Yang said, doing her absolutely best to not fall apart right then and there. She cleared her throat - _be_ professional _Yang,_ she scolded herself - and clasped her hands together in front of herself. “Well, I’m glad you enjoyed your treatment! Do you have any questions?”

Blake didn’t even pause, “Can I see you again?”

And Yang… well, she short-circuited, like the useless lesbian that she was. “Like.. you mean for another treatment or like…”

“Another treatment,” Blake confirmed, but not before Yang noticed a small stumble in her words, a faint blush across her cheeks that was visible even in the half-light.

“Right, of course,” Yang smacked herself internally, because _duh_ . “Whatever works best for you! Anywhere from once a week to once a month is what I usually tell people, anyway. Just no more than once a week ‘cause there _is_ such a thing as too much of a good thing in this case.”

“I doubt that,” Blake said, lifting an eyebrow as she slowly sat up. Yang almost averted her gaze before she remembered that she had given Blake a gown. Her heart restarted itself anyways.

 _If you’re flirting with me.. please stop, I can’t handle it_ , Yang whined inwardly even as she reached behind herself to the dimmer switch on the wall, slowly bringing the light up. “Just make sure you take your time as you get off the table, okay? If you stand up too quickly you could get a little dizzy or lightheaded, just because you’ve been lying down for a bit. And you probably should be fine, but if you experience any soreness in the few days from the treatment, that’s totally normal.”

“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” Blake said, reaching up and touching the back of her neck experimentally. “Thank you, Yang.”

“You’re welcome, Blake. I’ll just be out by the front desk for you whenever you’re ready.” Blake nodded to her once more as Yang stepped out and shut the door behind herself. And breathed out yet another long sigh of nerves.

“Don’t even start,” Yang held up a warning hand in Nora’s direction as she grabbed Blake’s file and settled into an open chair by the spare desk to jot down some quick notes. Normally she’d take the file into her office and take her time with the details but… well. She didn’t want to miss Blake as she left the clinic.

“I wasn’t going to say _anything_ about how you’re breaking yet _another_ rule, keeping the clinic open _and_ keeping other staff members waiting just because you’re-”

“I said _don’t even start_!” she rolled her eyes, throwing an eraser in Nora’s direction idly. “Besides, we’re the only three people left here tonight - two, if Pyrrha’s already gone-”

“Which she has, because at least _she_ finished her patient on time!”

“I’m so sorry!” Yang and Nora both looked over to where Blake’s voice had called from. She’d wandered out into the main area of the clinic, still in the gown. _Because you haven’t gotten her clothes from the dryer, idiot!_ “I knew it, that’d I’d keep everyone waiting, I shouldn’t have-”

“Oh, don’t be silly!” Nora waved a hand, getting up from behind the desk and gesturing for Blake to come over. “If you’re gonna be blaming _anyone,_ it _should_ be Yang, I mean - she was the one working on you!”

“But if I hadn’t come in-”

“Blake, don’t worry, please - Nora’s right, it’s totally my fault,” Yang hurriedly signed off on the treatment notes and practically tossed the file to Nora as she tripped over her chair on her way to the dryer. “I’ll just get you your clothes so you can change back into something more comfortable,” Yang called back as she gathered Blake’s clothes under her arm. “I know the gowns aren’t the most comfortable material in the world,” she said, holding out the mostly-dry bundle to her. “Here.”

Blake took her clothes back quickly, smiling tightly as she rushed to the bathroom to change, obviously not wishing to hold them up any longer. The door slammed and locked, causing Yang’s face to scrunch guiltily. “And there goes all my work,” she sighed.

“So? You know that it goes that way! I can tell you care about her, Yang, but… this is what you should expect, isn’t it?” Nora said, settling back down behind the desk and flipping open Blake’s file to the payment section in preparation.

“I know, of course it is,” Yang sighed, “but I just.. I feel like she doesn’t get to relax often. Or even enjoy herself, like, at all. So I’m worried.”

“You can only do so much for her,” Nora said softly, giving Yang a soft smile before turning back to her computer and inputting the payment.

“Just half an hour,” Yang spoke quickly, pointing. “That’s all I worked on her for - it’s only fair.”

Nora nodded, changing the payment in the system as Blake stepped out of the bathroom, looking a lot drier and a little less stressed than when she first came to the clinic about an hour ago. So Yang supposed that she could call that a win.

“Better?” she asked, leaning against Nora’s desk and doing her level best not to take in everything that was _Blake_ now that she was back to wearing her own clothes. _That white denim jacket was_ so cool _though._

“Better,” Blake nodded, hugging her arms across her chest, more to preserve the warmth from the freshly dried clothes than anything else. A beat, “How much for everything?”

“Just fifty-five,” Nora said, pulling Blake’s gaze in her direction as she brought out the credit card machine just in case it was needed.

“Yeah, I only worked on you for thirty minutes, so-”

“No, I - that’s fine,” Blake said, distractedly rooting through one of her inner jacket pockets. “Just… keep however much change is here, okay?”

Yang stared as Blake pulled out a bunch of crumpled bills that looked like they amounted to _a lot_ more than the price that Nora had stated. She caught Nora’s glance out of the corner of her eye, but neither of them said anything as Blake set the cash down on top of the counter. “Are you.. sure?” Nora finally asked, “I’m sure we can make some change for you here…”

“No,” Blake said firmly, and it was the strongest Yang had heard her all night. Her voice was steady and certain as she continued, “I want you to have this, Yang. For being so kind and helping me tonight. Please.”

Yang started to respond but her usual line about it being her job and that she was glad to help died on her lips as Blake flashed her a grin, pulled her coat tightly around herself and stepped back out into the slowly quieting rainstorm.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank everyone who's been reading and commenting so far, and reblogging my first chapter link on tumblr with such lovely tags, it seriously means the absolute world to me!! Like I can't describe how wonderful it feels to get such positive feedback on this -- I didn't think such a niche AU would gain even close to all the attention it's been getting thusfar!
> 
> All that being said, I hope you enjoy this update! Little bit of worldbuilding :)

“ _Sooo_ …,” Ruby said the next morning as she dumped blasphemous amounts of sugar into her coffee. “You gonna tell me what happened last night?”

Yang paused, her head stuck in the fridge searching for the jam which Ruby seemed to have buried - _again._ “Um, what?” she resumed her digging, “I don’t know why you’d be asking that sis, ‘cause nothing at all happened.”

“I _meant_ with our plans!” Ruby said after a long moment of silence, Yang closed the fridge with a sigh, turning to see Ruby set down her now empty coffee mug with a satisfied thunk. “I called the clinic yesterday to see what the hold up was - something I _don’t_ like doing on my days off, as you know! Even though I don’t mind talking to Nora, it’s just the principle of the thing-”

“I got a walk-in,” Yang interrupted her with a shrug as her toast popped up. “It happens.”

“Uh, _yeah_. I know, I work there too!” Ruby said, pointing absently to the jam hiding behind the sugar bowl.

“Hoarder,” Yang stuck her tongue out at her.

“I just thought you said that we were going to hang out no matter what came up! That you needed a night off from everything!”

Yang buttered her toast and swiped the jam off the kitchen table in silence. She couldn’t tell Ruby what _really_ happened last night - she’d never hear the end of it. But she _did_ feel bad about how she left her sister hanging. So, “Something came up,” she compromised. “I had to deal with it.”

“Something involving… a _girl_?”

Yang dropped her knife with an _awfully telling_ clatter. “What?! What did Nora say to you?”

“Nothing!” Ruby sing-songed in a way that made Yang want to put her in a perfectly loving, sisterly headlock. “She can’t give information out about patients, you know that! Unless she wanted to come to me for acupuncture later maybe, but-”

Yang planted her hands down on the island and vaulted towards her sister in a way that she _hoped_ was menacing, capable of reminding Ruby _exactly_ who was boss - despite the fact that _the boss_ in this scenario was a barely functioning lesbian disaster. “What’d she say, Ruby, I swear you better tell me-!”

Ruby let out a squeak as Yang advanced towards her, ducking beneath the table and emerging on the other side of the kitchen within seconds. She put her hands out like a forcefield, “She said she’d never seen you be that useless in your entire life, that’s all! No biggie!”

“Nora…,” Yang growled under her breath, folding her arms and huffing as she gave up chase - Ruby had always been faster than her and she wasn’t particularly in the mood to go running around the apartment for the next ten minutes.

“So… was she wrong?”

Yang sighed, dropping her arms in favour of running her hands through her hair and trying to relax. “No,” she finally admitted at the end of another long exhale. “But it wasn’t like that! _She_ wasn’t… there was just something different about her, that’s all.”

“Like… different because you can’t get your mind off her different, because that’s not _different,_ Yang, that’s just you being-”

“It seemed like she was in trouble, Rubes. Like… _serious_ trouble.”

“Well then you should call the police! If you think-”

“I can’t, Ruby!” Yang sank down into a chair at the kitchen table, burying her face in her hands. Voice muffled, she continued, “I can’t and you _know_ that. I looked at her file, okay? She’s like… barely younger than me. An adult. Which means I can’t intervene,” she finished, sad frustration clogging her words.

“So… that’s it then? You’re just giving up?”

Yang pulled her hands away from her face, feeling heavy. “What other choice do I have? For all I know, she might never come back. What if I scared her away?” But she knew that wasn’t true. Because Blake _had_ in fact asked her if she could see her again, and the way that Blake seemed to _enjoy_ Yang’s awkward fumblings all pointed towards evidence of the contrary.

“You?” Ruby asked in disbelief. “Scaring people away? Yang, all your patients love you! There’s no way you did _anything_ to make her uncomfortable! Even Nora said that it seemed like Blake thought your awkward lesbian fumbling was cute!”

“Nora _told you_ her _name_?” Yang slapped a palm down on the kitchen table as Ruby covered her mouth with both hands, realizing her mistake a split second too late.

“Uh.. um, _yes_ but it’s-”

“Nora,” they said in unison as Yang rolled her eyes.

“So what did you expect,” Ruby finished with a nod. “Besides, we gossip about patients all the time, sis, so I don’t really see what’s the problem if I know about this one?”

“It's not,” Yang said definitively. “A problem, I mean. It's just… it felt.. different. Personal. Like we'd met before.”

“Yang, that's impossible!”

“I mean, I don't know, okay!” Yang tossed her other hand into the air. “I mean like, sure, you'd know more that than I do with the training that you've done, but… there was _something_ there, Ruby. Underneath.”

“Alright, um…” Ruby settled on top of the table beside Yang and felt her forehead with the back of her hand. “Are you sure you didn't, like, catch a cold or anything recently or like.. maybe you should go in for an energy reading with Pyrrha? Like I know Winter highly discourages it, but she can't exactly _stop_ Pyrrha from doing it-”

“Ruby,” Yang began seriously, smacking her hand away, “I'm fine. It's _fine_. Last night was just.. a lot to take in, that's all. I don't need to see Pyrrha for anything other than a trade for my shoulders and wrists, okay?”

“Okay, okay!” Ruby pulled her hands away defensively and hopped off the table in case of further retaliation. She glanced at the clock, “I’m gonna get ready then, if you’re sure you’re like… okay. In the brain region, you know?”

“My brain is _just fine_ , thank you,” Yang said, pushing back from the table and standing as well. “C'mon, I’ll take you to work today.”

“But… it’s your day off! And Weiss said she’d be fine with-”

“I mean, if you want to brush off the _one_ nice thing your sister wants to do for you-”

“No, no no! But - _oooooh_ ,” Ruby interrupted herself, “does this mean I get to ride on the back of your bike?!”

“Yeah, well. It's not like I have any intention of driving that rustbucket you call a car, so…”

Ruby gasped, affronted. She smacked a hand to her chest, “You take that back! I take _very_ good care of Crescent Rose, excuse me!”

“Oh my god,” Yang rolled her eyes as she pulled on her riding gear over her scrubs. “I forgot you _named_ it-”

“Please! Like _you’re_ not driving a bike called _Bumblebee-”_

Yang pulled up short just as she was reaching for the pair of motorcycle helmets up on the shelf. “Alright, yeah. I deserved that,” she grumbled, tossing the helmet she’d gotten Ruby for Christmas, specially monogrammed with a red rose along the side. “You _like_ riding Bumblebee though.”

“I do! Which is why I’m saying that it’d just be _nice_ if you extended a little of that towards Crescent Rose, you know, I’ve scratched your back, so….”

“I’m a free spirit!” Yang stretched her arms out above her head as she headed towards the door to get her boots. “I don’t like being confined by walls or labels - it’s too much work!”

“Except for disaster lesbian!” Ruby stuck her pointer finger in the air triumphantly.

“Okay, hey, now _disaster_ isn’t-”

“Blake would disagree!”

At the mere unexpected mention of Blake’s name, Yang nearly slipped off the ledge from where she was bent over, lacing up her knee high Doc Martens. “Okay Ruby,” Yang huffed as she carefully sat down to put on her other boot while Ruby doubled over laughing. “Very funny. Point proven, thank you.”

“It’s just even _better_ because... seeing that!” she’s still gasping for words in between bouts of laughter, “And then! Knowing what Nora said! I can’t even _imagine_ what you were like! At work yesterday! Were you even _breathing_?! God, she must’ve been-”

“Enough, Ruby,” Yang said quietly as she finished lacing up her boots and stood. “Yeah, she was gorgeous, alright? But something's going on. And _until_ I figure it out - which I can't do until she comes back - you can’t say shit, got it?”

Ruby rubbed an errant tear of laughter out of her eye, her face falling at Yang's suddenly serious tone. “Of course not, sis! I promise! It’s just nice, seeing you like this.”

“Like this?”

“You know, girl crazy! We all know how hard you took the falling out with Pyrrha and like, how weird that made things at work for awhile, so I’m sorry,” Ruby kicked a toe into the floor as she stood beside Yang, helmet swinging by its straps. “It’s just been nice to tease you again.”

“Hey, what are little sisters for, right?” Yang said, perking up for Ruby's benefit as she reached over and ruffled her hair, “Now, c’mon! Get that helmet on so we can hit the road, Rubes!”

 

 

Yang and Ruby arrived at the clinic about twenty minutes later, due to the fact that Yang had decided to take the more circuitous route for Ruby’s benefit. And it wasn’t like either of them were in a rush anyway. She killed the engine, and the rumble of the bike and the rush of wind during the trip was suddenly replaced by silence aside from a delicate breeze and the occasional birdsong. The faded golds and oranges of the sunrise hit the glass front of the clinic, making them both squint as they climbed off Bumblebee.

“Here, give me your helmet, I’ll put it with mine in my office,” Yang held out her hand, gesturing.

Ruby handed it over, but her expression was scrunched up in confusion as she stared at Yang. “I was thinking on the way over,” she said at Yang's inquiring blink.

“Uh oh. _That’s_ never good.”

Ruby just grumbled, attempting to push Yang sideways to capitalize on her annoyance. But Yang merely took the smallest of side steps as they walked across the parking lot together. “You know that never works, Ruby.”

“Ugh, fine! Whatever! I was just thinking, you know? Why take me to work today at all? I’m not losing my mind, am I? It’s your day off, right?”

“Uh, well, yeah. It is,” she answered cagily as she held open the door for Ruby. “I just.. missed getting some paperwork done last night. That’s all. Wanted to stay on top of it, you know?”

“Ruby, you’re here early! I was just gonna call you to tell you - oh! Yang, isn’t it your day off?” Nora said as she heard the bell chime over the door at their entrance.

“What, I can’t come in just because?! Everyone keeps asking-”

“Well, you _have_ been talking about how tired you’ve been lately, so-”

“Nora,” Ruby interrupted, glancing back and forth between the rally, “you said you were going to call to tell me something?”

“Oh, right! Yeah, your first patient at 9:30 cancelled. He just called.”

“You're telling me I could’ve slept in more?!” Ruby said exasperatedly. “Aw man! Who was it?”

“Black,” she said.

“Mercury?” Yang asked with a grimace as Nora nodded.

“ _Ugh_ , that guy gives me the creeps,” Ruby shivered. “Even though there _is_ a certain satisfaction of stabbing needles into his face to keep him from smirking at me with his ugly… eugh! I just don't like it!”

“He hits on me too, so I know what you mean,” Yang said, rapping her knuckles on the desk in a thoughtless rhythm. “Anyway, Nora, is Pyrrha in this morning? Maybe I’ll get a trade in with her if she’s free, since I’m here.”

“I thought you were getting paperwork done?” Ruby asked suspiciously.

“Right well, that! _And_ I’ll ask Pyrrha for some work, I mean.. I was planning on staying for a bit anyway,” Yang said, starting to scoot away from the front desk to avoid further interrogation.

“Well, she’s in with a patient right now for the next half hour, but she’s free after that for a couple hours. Want me to block out some time for the two of you?”

“That’d be great actually, thanks Nora!” Yang grinned, heading to her office to kill some time as Ruby continued to bemoan about inconsiderate patients to Nora at the front desk.

“Okay, Yang,” she sighed to herself as she settled down in front of her desk. “At least _pretend_ you’re busy so Ruby won’t ask any more questions.” She flipped open her laptop and booted it up, pulling open her active patient file cabinet while she waited for the home screen to pop up.

The only problem was that Yang _never_ had any paperwork. She always completed her charting after each patient treatment and anything else more involved than a health history form or SOAP notes were deferred to Weiss and Winter as the primary care providers. As was usually the case if a patient was receiving physiotherapy for an injury or an accident.

So Yang just sighed, pulled out the one file she knew she needed to take a longer look at, and tapped in her password. She'd just opened her email when a knock sounded at her door. “Yeah?”

Weiss poked her head in. “Ruby had said you’d come in on your day off, but I didn’t believe her,” she arched an eyebrow. “Do you mind if I come in?”

“I mean if you're here to lecture me, then yeah I mind,” Yang said, but nodded for Weiss to come in anyway.

“Lecture you? And why would I do that?” Weiss asked, settling down in the chair across from Yang’s desk.

“Oh, it’s… nothing. Nevermind,” Yang started, realizing her mistake a split second too late. _Shit, now Weiss would be onto her_.

Weiss paused for a moment, absently straightening the wooden puzzle that sat on the corner of Yang’s desk. “Nothing? Really?” Weiss prodded further, Yang just giving her a strangled noise of affirmation as she bobbed her head. “Nora seemed to imply that _something_ happened last night. Which isn't _nothing_ , Yang. So which is it?”

“Goddamnit, Nora,” Yang growled, for the second time that morning. She pushed Blake's file off to the side for the moment. Weiss wasn't treating her, so Weiss didn't need to know. “Nothing in this fucking clinic stays a secret with that walking loudspeaker around.”

“Don't let Ren hear you say that,” she warned with an exasperated eye roll.

“He enables her, and we all know it!” Yang sighed, grabbing the puzzle away from Weiss’ meddling. She began slotting the pieces together without looking, hoping the usual good natured office complaint would distract Weiss from the _nothing_ that happened last night.

To no avail. “So?” she asked, that damned eyebrow raising inquisitively in Yang's direction once more.

“Fuck,” she hissed. “Loudspeaker… okay, fine! _Something_ happened yesterday while you and Winter were doing your little sister outing thing. Happy?”

Weiss watched as Yang repeatedly solved and took apart the puzzle in her stress. “There's more,” Weiss nudged.

“Why aren't you working? Shouldn't you be working?” Yang grumbled, “I bet your patients wouldn't be too happy if they knew-”

“Jaune's taking care of the heat and stim for Callows right now, because I asked him to - because that's his job? You know, as the physiotherapist's assistant?”

“Which is another thing!” Yang said, fighting a losing battle. But she'd stall as long as she could with whatever material she was given. “You should maybe talk to Winter about hiring more assistants, huh?”

“What would _you_ need an assistant for, Yang? You’re the one doing all your own work,” Weiss asked, and Yang hoped she was actually thrown off and not just humoring her.

“I didn’t say me! Like, what if Ren needed someone to.. uh, I don’t know, mix… together herbs? Or.. prepare… oils…,” Yang floundered and, by the look on Weiss’ face, she knew it wouldn’t be long before-

“You’ve been here for two years and you _still_ don’t know what Ren does as a naturopath,” she sighed. “I suppose I’ll have to suggest to Nora that you should book in with him, then she’ll _never_ get off your case, now will she?”

Weiss’ folded arms and barely hidden smirk held a challenge of a different name and Yang held her gaze for as long as she could before caving with a sigh of her own. Setting down the puzzle, she slid Blake’s file into the space between them once more. “A walk-in came for me yesterday and uh… well. Nora probably told you that I was a mess, so. Don’t need to get into the details!”

“Belladonna,” she muttered, tracing through the file. “Why does that name sound familiar?”

“It does?!” Yang said, her heart racing. “Like, Weiss, if you have connections-!”

“Wow,” Weiss said, her eyebrows lifting into her hairline now, “when both Nora _and_ Ruby said you were a complete disaster, they weren’t kidding.”

“ _Ruby_ told you?!”

“When she texted me this morning saying she wouldn’t need a ride because _you_ were taking her in. On your day off.”

Yang slumped over on her desk, smushing her cheek against the lacquered oak. “Just bury me now,” she groaned pitifully.

“But then you’d never see..,” Weiss quickly looked back down at the file again, “ _Blake’s_ face ever again. I’m assuming she was your type.”

“Not even close! She was _so_ out of my league, even completely soaked!”

Weiss blinked. “Do I need to bring Winter in for a reminder of our company policy for-”

“ _No_ , thank you,” Yang drew out, pulling her head up only to drop her chin lazily into her hands. “Nora already hammered that fact back into my brain, I’m good.”

Weiss returned her gaze to the file, tapping it thoughtfully. “Just be careful,” she said, her voice a little far off. “I’m not sure where I recognize the name, but it’s vague. Perhaps something to do with our parents affiliations. I’ll have to ask Winter, see if she-”

“No! Don’t mention any of this to Winter!” Yang said quickly, sweeping the file towards herself. Weiss didn’t even need to ask why, knowing that Yang wouldn’t be able to stop herself from spilling the rest of her secrets now that the dam was broken. “I kinda… uh. Well, when Blake came in last night, there was that huge thunderstorm, right? So, her clothes were all soaked, I guess she’d walked? Anyway, I’d offered to put her clothes in the dryer while I worked on her because like, who would want to put wet clothes back _on_?”

“Oh Yang,” Weiss shook her head, patting the back of Yang’s hand that covered Blake’s file protectively. “You really _are_ hopeless, aren’t you?”

“Yep. I’ve been reminded,” she said a little flatly, but the corner of her mouth fought an exasperated smirk. “I’m just concerned, mostly. When she came in, the whole time… she just seemed so nervous. Jumpy or… like, terrified, even. I just want to know, you know? If she’s safe.”

“ _That’s_ why you’re here,” Weiss said, understanding dawning on her. “She was a walk-in before, so you want to see if she’ll come in again.”

Yang nodded, fighting the blush that she could feel tingeing the tops of her ears. “I know it’s stupid, I mean.. _I_ was the one who told _her_ to wait at least a week before coming back in, but… I’m just worried.”

Weiss paused, allowing the moment to settle heavily before looking Yang in the eyes with a sympathetic expression before continuing, “It can’t be helped, you know that right? There are other patients you treat that go through difficult circumstances and you get on just fine in between treatments, don’t you?”

“But Blake-”

“Is different because you immediately fell into a hopeless lesbian spiral, I know,” Weiss said, and all Yang could do was fold her arms in a huff, blowing an errant strand of hair out of her face along with it. “But we all saw you handle working around Pyrrha after everything, so just… use that, okay?”

“So what I’m hearing is that you’re giving me the okay to-”

“No! Oh my god, Yang, no. You know Winter would kill me for even _giving_ you such and idea, so if you value your employment at this clinic, you won't say _anything_ ,” Weiss warned.

“She can’t _technically_ fire me, since I’m subcontracting out of this clinic anyway,” Yang pointed out with a shiteating smirk.

“That may be true, but this _is_ the only place you’re currently based out of. So _that_ is something that you should _technically_ keep in mind.”

Yang’s smirk turned into a grimace. “Right… yeah,” she said, biting her lip.

“Now, is there anything else I should be aware of before I get back to work?” Weiss asked as another knock sounded at Yang’s door.

“Nope, and that’ll be Pyrrha,” Yang said quickly, standing up and nudging Weiss towards the door as she crossed the room to let Pyrrha in. “Thanks for stopping by Weiss, been nice chatting with you, really!” she said, shunting Weiss out the door past a stunned looking Pyrrha, hand still raised.

“Should I… come back?” she asked.

“No, no! Not at all, Weiss was just leaving! See?” Yang said, clapping Weiss firmly on the shoulder as she gave her one last grin and wave. “See, no problem!”

“She interrogated you about last night, did she?” Pyrrha said, shaking her head sympathetically.

“Yeah, but, it’s fine! We can talk about all that while we trade. If you don’t mind, that is,” Yang asked sheepishly, realizing how last minute this request was.

“Well, I do have a gap in my schedule, but it’s not enough for us both to have an hour,” Pyrrha said as she walked over to the general reception-use computer tucked into a nook just around the corner from the linen cabinets.

Yang followed her, waving hello to one of her regular patients as Jaune took them in for physio. “Nora already blocked it off for you, but… oh. Yeah, that’s only an hour and a half,” she said, leaning around Pyrrha’s shoulder. “Something quick then? Half an hour or forty-five?”

“Or I could just book you in,” Pyrrha said, already reaching for the mouse to adjust the schedule. “I haven’t been feeling very sore lately, and I know you’ve said that you needed some work done, so if you’d like to do that instead, then that’s something we can do.”  
“If you don’t mind, then that’d be great, yeah!” Yang said, watching Pyrrha book her name into her schedule. “I’ll just get the table ready for you, give you a bit of a break?”

“Thank you, Yang,” Pyrrha smiled softly at her. “Shall I knock in a few minutes when you’re ready on the table?”

“Mhmm!” Yang hummed, heading to Pyrrha’s room to change over the sheets from her previous patient. “I won’t be long. The usual, okay? Oh, and I’ve got a bit of a headache today too. Didn’t sleep well last night.”

“Absolutely, Yang. I need to finish these notes first however,” Pyrrha said as Yang nodded absently over her shoulder and headed to Pyrrha’s room.

Yang quickly changed the sheets and closed the door behind her, getting undressed and onto the table in a few short minutes. In the few quiet moments before Pyrrha knocked, she allowed herself to take a few deep breaths to unwind from the craziness of the past twenty-four hours. Work had been stressing her out lately, the irony of which was _definitely_ not lost on her, but oddly enough, despite how hectic everything was last night, Yang couldn’t help but feel like something within her soul had just… _settled._ Like Blake was meant to find her way into Yang’s life.

“Yang?” Pyrrha called a moment later, tapping softly on the door as Yang let out another long exhale, feeling centered.

“Yeah,” she answered, and Pyrrha stepped into the room and dimmed the lights further.

“Would you like some aromatherapy today as well?” she asked as she started playing some gentle relaxation sounds of waterfalls and bird songs. Which Yang usually hated using within her own treatment room, if she was being honest with herself. But for Pyrrha it just seemed _right._

“The usual,” Yang lifted her shoulder in favour of nodding to keep her head in place in the face cradle.

“Jasmine it is then,” Pyrrha said from somewhere above her. There was a pause and, after a moment, a small click and a light _huff_ as Pyrrha’s diffuser whirred to life. “And some mint for that headache, if you’d like?”

“You know what works best on me Pyrrha,” Yang replied with a small laugh.

“Well, you could say that I _used_ to,” Pyrrha teased as she settled her hands on Yang’s back, over the sheet and blanket for the time being. At her touch, Yang instinctively took in another deep breath, sinking even further into relaxation on the table.

“Oh, getting a little jealous, are we?” Yang sassed right back.

“Not at all!” Pyrrha said defensively. “Not.. anymore, at least.”

“Why, you got your eye on someone else now do you?” Yang was quick to ask as Pyrrha pulled back the blanket and sheet, exposing Yang’s back. “Maybe perhaps that new PTA Weiss hired, mister tall, blonde- _shit! Pyrrha!_ Fuck, that’s cold!”

“I’m sorry! I must’ve forgot to warm up the lotion first!” Pyrrha said, sounding _genuinely_ apologetic. But Yang knew better.

“Yeah, yeah, okay. I know you just did that to shut me up,” Yang rolled her eyes even though she knew no one but the floor would be able to see it. “But that wasn’t a _no_ , so, I’m going to assume… I mean, it _would_ make sense - seems like you have a type after all!”

“Yes, Yang,” she said, and Yang could just _hear_ the exasperation written all over Pyrrha’s face, “And you know better than anyone that my type is _women._ Besides, I’ve seen him hitting on Weiss and completely failing, so even if he was at all close to my type, I wouldn’t bother.”

“Yeah, you wouldn’t move on from _me_ to a guy like that,” Yang laughed, then immediately tensed up with a wince. _Geez, be more insensitive Yang._

Pyrrha was quiet from a moment, but her hands worked fluidly on Yang’s back, warming up the tissues without disruption. “What happened between us wasn’t your fault, Yang,” she finally said gently. “You shouldn’t hold onto that anymore.”

“Who said I was holding onto it?” Yang asked defensively.

“Your muscles,” Pyrrha said pointedly, digging a little deeper under her scapula, making Yang inhale sharply at the sudden spike of pain.

“Hey, okay,” Yang said, slowly letting her breath out as Pyrrha eased up, “Fine.”

“You can’t tell yourself how to feel, Yang,” Pyrrha said, her hands pausing comfortingly on Yang’s upper back. By now, after a few minutes of work, her palms were nice and warm and Yang took another deep breath to clear her head, the light scent of jasmine pleasantly surrounding her. Pyrrha continued, “I made the choice to move away to study abroad while we were together. We thought we could handle the distance but.. it just didn’t work out.”

“It’s _so_ dumb,” Yang growled at herself in frustration. “This all happened between us like _ages_ ago and like, it was _fine._ I _was fine_. I got over it, we’re fine! But now everyone’s bringing it up again because of _Blake_ and they’re all worried about me and I just… we weren’t supposed to end like that, you know?”

“Do you believe in destiny?” Pyrrha said quietly after another pause.

“I haven’t really given it much thought before,” Yang replied, the image of a rain-soaked Blake flashing through her mind along with the overwhelming thought that something above Yang’s understanding had brought them together.

“Sometimes things, good or bad, just happen, Yang,” Pyrrha said, gently working her way through a trigger point at the top of Yang’s shoulder. “I don’t blame you for something that was out of your control. You fell out of love with me but... do you think that perhaps it was meant to happen?”

“It wasn’t fair to _you_ -”

“Look where you are _now_ though. Don’t think about me. Don’t think about us. For once, think about yourself. Even just for a moment,” Pyrrha added when she felt Yang start to lift her head in protest. “You’re always giving of yourself, and it’s very admirable. But it’s unhealthy.”

“What,” Yang scoffed, “and you think that Blake will change that somehow? _You_ saw her yesterday too, Pyrrha. She came to _me_ and _I_ helped her. She looked like she could barely stand, and you’re saying-”

“What I’m _saying_ ,” Pyrrha emphasized, rounding the table to work on Yang’s other side, “is that I saw your face when you looked at her. When you stood next to her. You didn’t help her because it was your job or because you were obligated. You would’ve done anything possible to help her, even if she had no way to repay you at all. You did that simply because you _wanted_ to. That’s why you’re here today too. You’re _still_ trying to help her.”

Yang turned Pyrrha’s words over in her mind, considering. “But how is _that_ any better than anything I’ve ever been doing before?”

“Because I think someday, Yang, she’ll be able to help _you_ too.”

 

 

Yang met Pyrrha outside the room after she’d gotten dressed, accepting the small paper cup of water that she was holding out. “You know these are only supposed to be for patient-use, right?” Yang asked in a slightly mocking version of Winter’s tone.

“She’s right behind you, you know,” Pyrrha said, pointing from waist height.

“Wh- _shit_ ,” Yang whirled, only to come face to face with… nothing. “Pyrrha!” Yang hissed, purposefully elbowing her in the boob while threatening to pour the rest of her water onto her head.

“Sorry! I couldn’t resist,” Pyrrha smirked, nudging Yang back with her shoulder.

“Whatever,” Yang rolled her eyes as she tipped her head back and finished the last of the water. She tossed the cup into the garbage then paused, scratching at the back of her neck. “Seriously though… thank you Pyrrha,” she said, glancing at her. “You always know what to say and just.. it helps, you know? Puts things into perspective.”

“The best ex you could ever ask for,” she smiled sadly with a small shrug.

“Hey,” Yang said, pulling her into a tight hug, “you’ll totally find someone, Pyrrha. And to be totally cheesy, she’ll _totally_ sweep you off your feet, okay?”

“Someday, yes. Perhaps,” she said, kissing Yang on the temple before stepping back from the embrace.

“Someday _soon,_ ” Yang emphasized, tucking her hands into the pockets of her skinny jeans, the smaller pocket unfamiliar to her. Wearing clothes that weren’t scrubs or pajamas felt weird sometimes. “And,” she continued, “as an added bonus, she’ll be so much shorter than you! Because I know you weren’t happy with the fact that you couldn’t rest your chin on top of my head or put your arm around my shoulders comfortably.”

“Yes, _that’s_ the reason fate eventually lead us apart,” Pyrrha laughed. “So that both of us could find our true solace in shorter girlfriends.”

“Now you’ve got it!”

“I have notes to finish,” Pyrrha shook her head with a grin, “and _you_ have a payment to make.”

“Yeah, alright. Love you too,” Yang stuck her tongue out as she turned back to her office to grab her wallet. Blake’s file still sat tucked away on her desk where she’d left it an hour ago and, for some reason, it made her uneasy. Even though the door had been closed the entire time, the fact the file had been left out in the open where anyone could have access to it made her anxious.

“Irrationally anxious,” she muttered to herself with a sigh before grabbing her wallet and heading to the front desk, leaving Blake’s file where it was for the moment. It was just a file. She’d come right back for it anyways. No one was going to look at it.

“Hey, Nora? Pyrrha ended up working on me for the hour, so-”

“Yep, I’ve got your payment all ready to go! Whenever you’re ready with your card,” Nora said, turning the machine towards Yang.

“You didn't see anyone go into my office while I was with Pyrrha, did you?” she asked as nonchalantly as possible while she input her pin.

“Nope, door stayed closed the whole time! Why?”

“Oh, uh… no reason,” Yang said, absently drumming her fingers against the countertop as she waited for her payment to be processed. “I'd just forgotten to put Blake's file away and I was… it's nothing.”

Nora frowned slightly, taking in Yang's demeanour with calculating eyes and noting the bags under her eyes and the worried crease in her forehead. But she let it go. “Don't forget your card,” was all she said as Yang was about to head back to her office.

“Oh! Right, yes. Thanks Nora,” Yang swiped her card from the machine with a distracted nod. Then she went back to her room, shut the door behind herself once more and settled back down behind her desk.

To _finally_ look at Blake's file.

She couldn't really tell herself _why_ such a simple thing made her so nervous. It wasn't like it was an invasion of privacy or anything. The opposite, in fact. Because it was something she _legally_ had to do in order to treat anyone who came into her treatment room. To not do so could potentially get her sued for negligence or worse if something were to happen to a patient during her treatment.

“Stop psyching yourself out, you disaster lesbian,” she muttered to herself. “It's just a file.” She pulled the folder bearing Blake's name in Nora's blocky _clinical script_ towards herself and flipped it open.

And found that all that worry had been for absolutely nothing. Because Blake had left almost every single line of information blank.

She sat back in her chair, unsure of what she’d been expecting. She wasn’t sure whether or not she should be feeling relief at finding nothing of great concern. Because, on one that, that could mean that all of Yang’s concerns for Blake, her thoughts that Blake was in some kind of trouble, were unfounded. On the other, there was a possibility that Blake was covering things up, or hiding things, or too scared to say certain things out loud.

Or that she wasn’t _allowed_ to say anything.

Yang’s mind flashed back to a memory from yesterday; Blake cutting herself off - “ _I’m not allowed”_ and always looking for exits. Yang wouldn’t say that she suddenly knew everything about Blake after one meeting with her, but she did get the sense that Blake wasn’t the kind of person to be dishonest. And with responses to _past injuries, illnesses, surgeries within the last five years_ and _family history_ left glaringly blank, Yang grew more and more suspicious.

Flipping back to the front of the file, she checked the emergency contact name. _Adam Taurus._ Her eyes scanned further across the page, a feeling of sickness spreading from her stomach. _Relationship to patient: Boyfriend._

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really struggled with this chapter, so any feedback or comments you guys can give me would be superb! Words of encouragement or things you really liked, things that really hit Your Feels. All that good stuff. And now I wont keep you waiting any longer! Enjoy :)

“ _Yang, it’s been a week. You haven’t slept.”_

 

“ _We’re worried about you.”_

 

“ _This isn’t healthy, Yang. I know that you’re concerned about her, but you have to take care of yourself. You may not see her again for a little while, you know that right?”_

 

 

 

A knock sounded at her office door, jolting Yang up from her exhausted haze. “Your patient’s here,” Nora said, poking her head in.

“Who is it again?” she asked, not bothering to look at the schedule that sat open on her laptop screen. Not like she was able to read the blurry text anyway, and it’d take her too much effort to even try.

“Scarlatina,” Nora said, further adding when Yang just blinked at her, “Velvet?”

“Oh… uh,” Yang said, lifting herself up halfway from her desk, her whole body feeling heavy. A twinge clawed at her lower back and she grimaced. Had it really only been just a week since she’d booked in with Pyrrha? _Shit_. “Um, sure, tell her I’ll be right with her, okay?”

Nora didn’t move. “I’ll tell her you’re not feeling well,” she said instead.

“Wh- Nora, no, it’s-”

“You should go _home,_ Yang,” she overrode her, insistent. “And you know that Velvet will understand. She’ll be more than fine with this.”

“Don’t tell her that,” Yang protested weakly, forcing herself to get up, holding the desk to keep herself from wobbling. “I can totally take her in.”

Nora just took one glance at her and shook her head. “Yeah, that’s not happening,” she said definitively. “Sit your ass back down and I’ll reschedule her, free of charge.”

Yang sighed, dropping back into her chair far more easily than she would ever admit out loud and just nodded vaguely in Nora’s direction. “Fine,” she mumbled, but Nora was already out the door. “Guess I should clear the last patient on my schedule then.”

“I’ll get Nora to finish all that for you, okay sis?” Ruby poked her head in on the way back from the office her and Weiss shared.

“Huh?”

“You just stay put! And since I’m just about finished with my paperwork, I’ll be taking you home,” Ruby said, taking in Yang’s slumped form with much of the same look that Nora had given her moments ago, “because I don’t trust you to drive your bike safely like that.”

“It’s Bumblebee,” Yang insisted tiredly, but nodded all the same. “Alright, just.. let me know when you’re ready.”

Ruby tossed her keys at Yang without warning, causing them to land on Yang’s desk with a loud clatter that made her wince. “You can go nap in the car while I finish up! I won't be long,” she said, then darted back to her office.

Yang sighed again, figuring she had no choice. She knew that all the concerns of her friends over the past few days were well-intentioned and, moreover, that those intentions were _right_. She’d barely been able to focus on work the first few days after reading Blake’s file and it’d only gotten worse as she pulled longer hours at the clinic hoping for Blake to walk in. But she couldn’t keep working like this and she _knew_ that. Plus, Ruby had a _really_ nice nap blanket in the back of Crescent Rose.

“Okay, well,” Yang said, pulling on her leather jacket as she approached Nora and stifled a yawn. “Orders are orders, I guess.”

“You’re damn right they are!” she huffed. “And, as expected, Velvet was an absolute doll and agreed to see you when you’re _not_ so exhausted.”

“Feel better, okay Yang?” Velvet piped up from the entrance where she was zipping up the designer boots that her girlfriend had given her.

“Thanks Velvet, I will after I get some rest, I think,” Yang smiled at her. “Say hi to Coco for me!”

“Sure thing,” she replied with a wave before heading out.

“You’re not taking your bike home, are you?” Nora asked suspiciously, eyeing the set of keys in Yang’s hand.

“It’s Bumblebee,” she corrected absently for the second time. “And, are you kidding? Not even close, Ruby would kill me before I even took more than a step towards it. She’s taking me home once she finishes her paperwork.”

“Ooh! You get to ride in Crescent Rose, how fun!”

“Seriously?” Yang grumbled as she grabbed replaced her work shoes with her boots. “You remember the name of Ruby’s car, but _not_ my bike?”

“It’s pretty!” Nora shrugged. “And one time, she let Ren and I cuddle up underneath her nap blanket when we’d gotten locked out of the clinic because the lock had frozen, and we were waiting there for a _long_ time, so-”

“Nope!” Yang lifted a hand, cutting her off. “Don’t need to hear the rest of that story, thank you! I prefer _not_ to know anything that would happen to involve the blanket that I’m about to come into contact with. For my own sanity.”

“Suit yourself! Have a nice nap, it’s a _very_ comfy blanket!” Yang pretended not to see the eyebrow wiggle Nora was giving her as she headed out the door.

For all of Yang’s teasing, she really did like Ruby’s car. She had an eye for the classics and kept Crescent Rose in mint condition, doing a routine checkup as a part of her nightly tradition. She hummed, tracing the hood of the cherry red VW Bug and reminiscing happily about how enthusiastically Ruby took to the mechanics of car builds after they’d moved out together.

She unlocked the car and slid into the back seat, unfolding Ruby’s giant blanket and fluffing up the pillow that were always carefully stored in the back for _emergency nap situations,_ as Ruby called it.

Which, as they’d _all_ agreed to up to this point, this was. Because the second Yang’s head hit the pillow, hazily remembering to ensure that the car was locked, she drifted off into unconsciousness.

...only to be awakened what felt like seconds later by frenzied shouting from outside the car. “Sis, c’mon, open up!”

“Five more minutes,” she grumbled, but she was just teasing and Ruby knew it. Through all the years of raising Ruby practically on her own, Yang had always been instantly alert whenever it came to anything Ruby. Especially Ruby shouting.

“Unlock the car Yang!” she pleaded as Yang hauled herself up agonizingly slowly.

“What was that, five minutes?” she asked as she unlocked the car and handed Ruby the keys.

“Three? I didn’t have much work to do after you’d left,” Ruby shrugged as she started the car. Then spied Yang in the rearview mirror preparing to climb into the front seat. “You better not-!”

“I was promised your nap blanket,” Yang started as she completely ignored Ruby’s protests and stuck her long legs through the gap between driver and passenger seats.

“If you get scuff marks on the leather, I’ll have _you_ be the one to scrub them off!”

“And,” Yang finished with a huff as she settled into the passenger seat, “you just _betrayed_ me like that, making me believe I’d have a decent amount of time to nap! I’m wounded, Ruby.” She smacked a hand to her chest as Ruby rolled her eyes and started the drive home.

“Don’t blame me that you’ve been pulling extra hours!” she said pointedly, pulling out of the parking lot. “We’ve all been worried about you.”

“I know,” Yang murmured after a long moment. “And I appreciate it, you know? From all of you. I guess I just fell into it too quick. Got too much on one track.”

“That’s what we’re here for, sis!” Ruby nudged her as they sat at a red light. “Pull you back when you get a little too crazy.”

“Seriously, I don’t know where I’d be without you guys,” she grinned, leaning back slightly in her seat and closing her eyes for the rest of the drive.

“Probably a workaholic!” Ruby said. “I’ll wake you when we get back.”

 

The next time Ruby roused Yang from sleep, it was a lot more gentle, to say the least. “Yang,” she shook her shoulder, “we’re home.”

Yang hummed and stretched as best she could in the smaller interior of Crescent Rose. She’d meant it when she’d said that she didn’t like being confined. But at least she’d gotten a good nap out of the deal. “Feels weird not to see Bumblebee parked beside,” she commented, putting her seat upright once more and climbing out into their garage.

“She’ll be fine in the backlot at work, Yang,” Ruby reassured her with a smile.

Yang rounded the hood of the bug and reached out to give her a noogie. “If anyone else said that to me, I wouldn’t be so sure. But.. you know how much that bike means to me, so.. I trust you.”

“You put almost as much, if not _more,_ love and attention with your work on Bumblebee than me with Crescent Rose so, yeah! Of course you should trust me!” Ruby said, wriggling her way free of Yang’s grasp.

Yang paused at the steps leading up to the garage entry to their house, looking around the small, but well-stocked space. “Remember when you first got Crescent Rose? She was all beat up and rusty and falling apart in every place imaginable.”

“But it was right after mom died,” Ruby continued quietly, resting a hand on the hood, “and dad had started gambling and when he managed to win this car, everyone told him it was a piece of shit and laughed at him. You told me we could fix it though. Together.”

“Those long nights in dad’s old shop were some of my favourite memories growing up,” Yang said, pulling Ruby into a tight hug. “Working beside you, even when everything was going to shit around us, you know? Just two sisters bravely carrying on through it all like heros in a fairytale.”

Ruby squeezed back, sensing a note of melancholy in her sister’s voice that didn’t match the memories. “And we’ll get through whatever’s next too, right sis? Together?”

A flash of lightning, a downpour of rain. A girl with golden tears. “Together,” Yang said.

 

 

The next morning, Yang woke up actually feeling refreshed. Well, mildly more rested than she had been in the past week, at least. She could tell that the worries and stresses were still _there_ but she wasn’t wound as tightly as before. “Hm, g’morning sis,” Yang hummed contentedly as she watched Ruby shuffle into the kitchen with a tired hunch to her back.

“Coffee,” she grumbled, “since _you_ seem to be in a better mood, would you mind?”

“Already in the pot, just brewed a few minutes ago. I heard you playing games on your phone so I started it for you,” Yang ruffled Ruby’s hair as she shuffled on past, swiping her mug from the counter that Yang had set out for her.

“They help me wake up my brain,” Ruby yawned, pouring coffee into her cream and sugar.

“You sure look _very_ awake to me,” Yang snorted, opening up the online clinic schedule on her phone.

“Could say the same for you,” Ruby said as she took a savory sip of her coffee before downing it in one go. “Did you sleep well last night?”

“Much better, yeah,” she nodded before immediately groaning in distaste and dropping her head onto the table with a thud, her phone following suit with a clatter.

“What is it?”

“ _Port_ ,” Yang groaned again, muffled by the table. She nudged her phone towards Ruby.

“Oh _gods_ ,” Ruby shook her head in sympathy, resting her hand on Yang’s shoulder comfortingly as she looked at Yang’s schedule. “If he tries to ask you to marry him or go somewhere _romantic_ on vacation with him again, can I _please_ run him over?”

“No chance,” Yang rolled her eyes as she pulled herself up again. “Besides, I wouldn’t want you to deface Crescent Rose for someone like _him_.”

“And he gives good tips,” Ruby said with a grimace.

“Yeah, well. He’s old and retired and _disgusting_ and…,” Yang gestured to her chest. “I’ll put up with him for an hour so he can drop another hundred dollar tip on me if he likes. And he’s never actually _done_ anything, Winter knows I can handle his comments, so. It’s just… after everything, it’s the last thing I wanted from today.”

“But at least you get to deal with him now, when you’re more rested! Can you imagine if he’d come in yesterday-”

Yang laughed, “Oh my _god_ I probably would’ve destroyed what little of his… dignity he has left.”

Ruby made a disgusted noise, “ _Yang!_ It’s too early for dick jokes, ugh!”

“You’re the one who has to leave in like, half an hour,” Yang pointed out, standing and taking Ruby’s empty mug from her to do a quick rinse and wash at the sink.

“Uh, we _both_ have to leave? And _I’m_ the one who can get ready fast, no problem! Just watch me,” she said, scooting around Yang to reach the milk from the fridge and the cereal from the cupboard.

“I’d rather not watch you choke, thanks,” Yang rolled her eyes, grabbing her sweater from the back of her chair and heading into the living room to settle down on the couch to wait.

“Mph, whatever!” Ruby yelled back through a mouthful of food. “Just let me know when you’re ready!”

“I’ve _been_ ready,” she said, exasperatedly fighting a smile as she pulled up a random game on her phone to pass the time.

Exactly twenty-nine minutes and thirty-two seconds later (Yang wasn’t going to tell her, but she’d _totally_ timed her, just out of curiosity), Ruby bounced out of her room in her favourite matching maroon scrub combo. “Let’s go!” she crowed, grabbing her shoes.

“No sweater?” Yang raised an eyebrow at her.

“ _Ugh_ ,” Ruby said, throwing her head back, about to stand up and shuffle back to her room extremely slowly in protest, when Yang launched a bundle straight into her face. “Hey!”

“You’d left it on me last night when I fell asleep on the couch,” Yang said, a little sheepishly. It’d been awhile since she’d done that.

“ _Now_ who’s being irresponsible?” Ruby fired right back.

“Yeah, yeah,” Yang said, pulling on her shoes in favour of her Doc’s because she wasn’t taking Bumblebee. “You can lecture me more when we get going, alright?” Ruby just stuck her tongue out at her as Yang locked up before running ahead to get the garage door open and the car running.

For all her teasing, lecturing Yang, even playfully, took a backseat to karaoke. “Oh my _god,_ I’ve missed this!” Yang hung her arm out from the passenger seat to take in the crisp autumn air as her hair whipped around her face. “We _never_ get to drive together anymore!” she added as Ruby belted out Cascada's “Everytime We Touch” extremely off-key.

“Well we _were_ gonna have a sister's night out the other day, but-”

“ _Don’t_ say it,” Yang warned, knowing that Ruby was going to get on her case again for being a useless lesbian. She held up a finger, “Whatever you were going to say, I’m sure we’ve been over it, Rubes.”

Ruby just shook her head and sing-songed, “Wasn’t gonna say anything!” before proceeding to launch back into the final chorus. Yang stared at her for a minute, determined to not let Ruby get away with sorta-not-really calling her out, before breaking down and fist-pumping wildly for the rest of the ride.

They arrived at the clinic out of breath and, in Yang’s case, with hair that was a wind-tangled mess. “You’re gonna have to take care of _all_ that before you even set foot in the clinic, you know,” Ruby gestured as she killed the engine.

Yang just leaned over the center console and scanned her reflection in the rearview mirror, combing her fingers through a few snarls before deeming it good. “I ride a motorcycle to work every day, sis. I think it's expected by now,” she said as she followed Ruby out of the car.

“Hey ladies!” Nora greeted them as they walked by the desk. She gave Yang a once-over, “You’re definitely looking better.”

“Only because I have you guys looking out for me,” Yang smiled, pausing on her way to the linen cupboard to get ready for the day. “Seriously, having you guys here to pull my head out of my ass has-”

“Language, Miss Xiao Long,” a sharp voice reprimanded her from behind.

Yang winced as she turned around slowly, “Hey, Winter..,” she replied, pulling her lips into a slightly uneasy smile. It’s not that she _didn’t_ get along with older woman, but as owner of the clinic, Winter definitely had more than just a little authority over her and her in-clinic behaviors.

Winter appraised her with a long look, folding her arms behind her back and looking intimidatingly professional as always in her pressed black slacks and neatly ironed button-up white blouse. She had always said that it was important to dress differently than those who were _technically_ her subordinates, but Yang always secretly believed it was because she just hated wearing scrubs. Even still, Yang couldn’t help but gulp slightly while on the other end of Winter’s scrutinizing stare. “Please do well to remember, Miss Xiao Long, that quality patient care cannot be achieved under subpar conditions. This clinic has a reputation to uphold. And working yourself to exhaustion will not be tolerated. Is that understood?”

“Uh… yep. Clearly understood, Miss Schnee, ma’am,” Yang said, keeping her arms pinned to her sides as she fought the urge to toss in a mock salute.

Winter pursed her lips, but the acknowledging tilt of her head told Yang that the sarcasm was allowed. Maybe even appreciated. _As if,_ Yang rolled her eyes inwardly as herself. “Very well,” she nodded curtly before turning sharply on her heel away from the conversation.

“Well. That could’ve been worse,” Yang muttered to herself, glancing around find that Ruby had made herself scarce at some point during the exchange. “Thanks for the help,” Yang tossed over her shoulder at Nora typing away.

“Wasn’t going to get in the middle of that, so! You’re welcome!” Nora called back.

Yang rolled her eyes but couldn't help but smile fondly from the whole encounter. No matter what happened, she knew that everyone here, even Winter, would have her back. But it wasn't like Yang was _expecting_ anything to happen today, anyway. Her friends were right, she couldn't burn herself out into an exhausted mess just for one patient, no matter how troubling their backstory seemed. Or just how pretty their lovely amber eyes were. Not that that had anything to do with anything though, of course. Nothing at all.

Yang fell into her prep routine without much thought, setting up her table with four sets of sheets tied down to the table to make transitions between patients that much easier. She tugged at the top blanket, straightening it out before folding the top sheet over to make neat parallel lines before making a final adjustment to the table height with the foot pedal on the floor near the head of the table. Then she set her music speaker up, adjusting the volume so it provided just the right volume of background music and went back to her office to wait for her first patient.

Her first two patients went by smoothly. It was nice to have the regulars to ease her back into the flow after being so emotionally and physically checked out of the work because it reminded her of exactly why she cared so much about this job. She was doing it to help others, to pull them out of their pain - even if just for a brief momentary respite. _That's_ what was important. And Winter was right that she couldn't do her job to the best of her ability without taking care of herself first.

Except that she wasn't going to tell Winter that she had absolutely no plans of doing that. Not anytime soon.

"Peter?" Yang called as she approached the waiting room for the third time that day.

"Ah, hello Yang!" the former-professor blustered as he stood up, reaching out a meaty hand to shake Yang's hand.

Yang bit back the same grimace that she always felt fighting to the surface whenever she had to work on Port. His hand, which she let go of as soon as she possibly could, was always sweaty and just a little - _a lot_ \- too warm to be anything but super uncomfortable and unsettling. And the way he always looked at her, like she was something he wanted to display on his wall… _ugh_. Yang shook off thoughts, as always, about _which_ wall in his house exactly it was that he'd want to hang her, and led him into her treatment room.

As she shut the door behind them both to give them the patient-required-privacy-as-per-clinic-policy and nothing more, Yang realized that she'd been completely tuning out _everything_ that Port had been saying up until this point. Which was probably for the best. But, well. She _did_ still have a job to do.

"So, how can I help you today?" Yang asked, tucking her hands into her pockets - if only to subtly wipe off the grimy feeling she couldn't rid herself after the handshake.

"Oh, you know! The usual," he leaned in, winking as he twirled his mustache.

"All upper body then," Yang confirmed, stepping back ever so slightly. As much as she wanted to hold her ground against this creep, she _really_ didn't want to give him any ideas. "Any headaches lately?"

"Nothing that I can't handle!" he laughed loudly and Yang tried not to let her disgust show on her face. She'd dealt with him before, she could deal with him again. And hopefully land a solid tip out of the deal at the end of it. If she didn't snap his neck first.

"I'll just leave the room and let you get onto the table then," Yang said, smiling tightly at him before leaving the room and closing the door behind her, unable to hide the sarcastic roll of her eyes.

"You can always dig your elbow into his back if he gets too.. _familiar_ with you. It's what I would do," Pyrrha offered with a shrug as Yang made a couple notes in Port's file, referring to her earlier sessions to see what _the usual_ was for him.

"Believe me, I think he'd _enjoy_ that just a little too much," Yang grumbled under her breath. "Masochist. Yeah," she added, pointing at his file where she'd made a note about the pressure, "See? Right there. Requested deep tissue treatment. _Every. Single. Time._ "

Pyrrha leaned over her shoulder, scanning his file. “He’s sure seen you a lot, hasn’t he?”

“One of our oldest returning patients,” Yang nodded with a heavy sigh as she shut his file.

“Hey,” Pyrrha said, squeezing Yang’s shoulder reassuringly, “You can handle him. I know how strong you are, and you don’t take shit from anyone.”

“Okay Pyrrha,” Yang laughed a little, but squeezed Pyrrha’s hand back all the same. “Why the pep talk all of the sudden?”

“You’ve gone through a lot of emotional highs and lows lately, I just wanted to make sure you were okay, that’s all!” Pyrrha said. “Your energy feels a little all over the place.”

“Oh, I see how it is,” Yang rolled her eyes, a good-natured smirk playing across her lips, “you just want my business!”

“Well, how else am I _ever_ to get you alone in my presence again?” Pyrrha gasped dramatically, draping herself across the desk like some kind of poorly overacted Shakespeare tragedy.

“Fucking goof,” Yang snickered, smacking her on the head lightly as she headed back to her treatment room. “Love you though,” she called over her shoulder as she knocked on the door. “All ready?”

“Of course, young lady!” Port called from inside. Yang bit her lip in a wince before schooling her features into a neutral expression as she stepped into the room and closed the door.

The treatment itself was pretty standard. Yang dropped her full weight and _very considerable_ strength into her treatment while Port yammered on about his past conquests as if they would impress her, as if she hadn’t heard them at least six times over, completely unphased by the pressure. That, more than any of his stories, impressed her more than anything. Like, if she were to go any deeper, she’d probably be ending the treatment by scraping him off the floor.

“Ah, my Martha,” Port sighed wistfully. “She was such a dear! Very kind! Caring and gentle, much like yourself, dear!”

Yang’s muscles worked as her jaw clenched for several moments, grinding through frustration. She glanced at the clock which showed about twenty minutes left of the treatment. She supposed she should feel lucky - usually it took Port a lot less time than this to get around to _this part_ of the conversation.

Irregardless of Yang’s lack of response, he continued on. “But someone as beautiful as you must have someone special in your life! Isn’t that right?”

Blake’s face appeared in Yang’s mind before she could even process the full extent of Port’s question. Her troubled expressions, the golden eyes that hid a maelstrom, the lips that looked so soft even when pressed into a frown… “No,” Yang shook herself. _She’s taken._ “Nobody.”

“No one?” Port said, turning his head to glance at Yang as she worked on his chest. “Then perhaps I should introduce you to-”

 _And that’s enough of_ that _,_ Yang thought decisively, leaning her full weight into a singular pinpoint of her fingertips, digging into a particularly nasty trigger point in his pec minor. Which got him to shut up _real quick_ as he groaned at the sudden sharp pain. “Oh, sorry,” Yang apologized, barely keeping the satisfaction out of her tone, “I should’ve warned you, this is pretty tight here. Might hurt.”

Port thankfully stayed quiet for the rest of the treatment after that. Which allowed Yang to finish up the treatment in silence. And that suited her just fine.

“Okay Peter, we’re all finished here,” Yang said, internally fistpumping after one of the longest hours of her life. “Take your time getting off the table and I’ll meet you by the front desk. Any questions?”

“No, you did an exquisite job as usual, Yang!” he said as he started to sit up.

 _Nope, time to go,_ she thought, immediately turning around and opening the door. “See you out front then,” she said, practically cutting herself off as she abruptly shut the door behind herself. “He needs to stop basically flashing me every single time he gets off the table,” Yang explained to Ren, who had pulled up short at the look on her face.

“Hm. Port?” he guessed without so much as a single glance at the computer schedule.

“Right in one,” Yang rolled her eyes as she scooted past him on her way to the sink to do a thorough decontamination of her hands and forearms.

“Winter will handle him if you ever ask her to, if you’d like,” Ren pointed out as he rearranged the jars and bottles in his cupboard next to her.

“It’s fine,” Yang said, waving her hand as she finished drying it. “He hasn’t actually _done_ anything to me, and he’s been coming here a long time so I don’t think he’s going to at this point.”

Ren nodded with a quiet shrug, glancing at the main clock in the lobby as he readied his cart with different specialized bottles for his next patient. Yang always managed to be impressed with the amount of effortless memorization that Ren had for each of the patients he saw, as they each had their own specific list and individualized treatment plan. And he sometimes saw even more patients than Yang did on any given day. “Good luck,” Ren said, tipping his head slightly in the direction behind Yang.

Yang didn’t even have to hear Port speak to know that he was behind her. She stifled a sigh, setting down her pen as she made a mental note of what she had left to write as she stood and turned around. “Feeling better, Peter?” she asked, walking a couple steps with him towards the front of the clinic.

“Much!” he grinned, leaning back in a stretch, tucking his hands into front pockets of his suit jacket that barely covered his girth. “You do know exactly how to work your magic on this old body of mine!”

Yang barely covered a look of disgust as she stepped backward slightly, trying to put subtle distance between them. “Well, I’m glad that I could-”

Without warning, Port suddenly stepped in close and wrapped his arms around her frame, completely disregarding the way her body stiffened at his touch. “You know, you are truly the most talented-”

But Yang was no longer listening. Because just over his shoulder, Yang spotted a familiar pair of ears and jet black hair. _Blake._

“..wondering if she was here, I.. can’t stay, but-”

“Blake,” Yang murmured out loud, unable to stop herself.

Several things happened just then. At the sound of her name falling from Yang’s lips, Blake turned from her conversation with Nora, amber eyes widening in shock. The world fell out from under them as their eyes met, and the same shock Yang experienced then drew a barely breathed, “ _Yang”_ from Blake’s lips.

Reality came crashing back as Winter’s sharp tone barked out from behind. “Mr. Port!” she snapped, crossing the room with frightening speed. Even in Yang’s dazed state, she could still recognize the fear written across Port’s face and would’ve felt vindicated - if she wasn’t already drifting across the floor towards Blake.

Winter chewing out Port, along with everything else, fell to background details as Yang stood face to face with Blake for the first time in several days. _Several lifetimes._ “You’re okay,” she murmured, registering nothing but the way Blake’s eyes shifted restlessly across Yang’s face, as if she’d forgotten the nuances of her beauty.

“I…,” Blake started nervously, her gaze pulling away from Yang’s to glance back towards the front entrance. “I shouldn’t be here,” she muttered, taking a few half steps backward, tension written across every line and arch of her body.

Yang couldn’t have stopped her even if she wanted, her brain still very much spiralling uselessly at Blake’s sudden reappearance. _And you’re going to lose her again if you don’t-!_

“Wait!” Nora called, lifting her hand in Blake’s direction to get her attention.

Blake _visibly flinched,_ her ears flattening instantly against her head as she curled inwards on herself, her arms crossing high on her chest, hands pulling shoulders tighter.

 _Oh… Blake,_ Yang shook herself, Blake’s sudden change in demeanor drawing her out of her stupor. “Hey,” she called softly, hoping her voice would be familiar enough to give Blake a sense of security.

“I.. no, I.. have to go,” Blake shook her head, “I can’t…”

“Take my card, okay?” Yang continued in that same soft voice, keeping her tone even, consistent. She carefully reached across the desk, took her card from her designated stand and held it out to Blake. “So you know where to find me.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, barely glancing up at Yang before taking the card and rushing out, ducking her head at the sound of the bell chiming overhead as she left the clinic for the second time.

“...a warning, Mr. Port. Further incidents towards my colleagues will be handled more severely in the future. Is that clear?” Yang turned towards the commotion, blinking. She’d _completely_ forgotten about Port. Winter was standing ramrod straight, her mouth even _thinner_ in her displeasure, if that was possible, while Port stood next to her, ashen faced.

“Wow,” Yang muttered to Nora as she ducked into the file room to hide from Port, “kinda disappointed I missed _that_ smackdown.”

“You had someone more important to deal with,” Nora replied gently with a soft smile. A moment later, she turned to address Port, who’d come to pay.

 _Someone more important,_ Yang thought to herself, staring blankly at the files, out of sight from the front desk. _Blake, she… she actually came back. She was looking for me. She wanted to see me again._

Still, she couldn’t help but doubt if she’d ever see Blake ever again. People in her life always made promises, but life and circumstances often took those promises out of their hands. “Do you think, maybe..,” Yang said as she poked her head out from file room once Port was gone. “No, that’s… I shouldn’t hope. I gotta get back to work anyway.”

“Yang,” Nora said after her back, “she’ll come back. I just have a gut feeling about this. She’s not, well… _you know._ ”

 _My mother,_ Yang finished inwardly, her lips twisting before she could mask the emotion that bubbled to the surface. “Maybe,” she just said in reply. “I’ll believe it when I see it, I guess.”

 

Yang should’ve known better than to test fate with words like _that._ But yet, for once, fate was kind to her. And, three days later, she was about to start believing just a little more once again.

Her last patient had come in fifteen minutes earlier than scheduled, allowing Yang to finish her day just that much earlier. And sometimes, when it came to charting and stripping the sheets and cleaning off the table, every minute counted. Leaving the clinic before lock up without keeping the person in charge of the key, usually Nora, waiting always felt nice too.

Tonight Weiss had some paperwork to finish up. So even though Yang wasn’t in a rush to leave, that feeling of being done early just put her in that much more of a good mood. She hummed to herself as she sat in her office, typing up the end of a reply to an email between herself, Winter and an insurance adjuster, the last finished patient file signed off and waiting to be put away on the desk beside her.

Just as she hit send, she heard Weiss’s voice in the front. “I’m sorry, but we’ll be closing soon. You’ll have to come back tomorrow.”

Yang couldn’t help but roll her eyes. It didn’t happen often, but every now and then there’d be someone sauntering in at five minutes to closing, expecting to be treated because they were _in so much pain_. “Like, if you were in so much pain, you would’ve-”

“Just a moment, please,” Yang heard Weiss say, and she widened her eyes. There was _no way_ that she was-

A knock sounded on Yang’s office door. “Yang,” Weiss started, opening her door without waiting for an invitation. “There’s someone here for you.”

 _It couldn’t…_ Yang thought, rising slowly from her desk as Weiss went back out front, presumably to get whoever it was. Because it couldn’t be-

But it was. After three days of waiting, Blake stood before her once again.

“I have some paperwork to finish up, Yang,” Weiss called from further inside the clinic. “So I’ll be here for a little longer before locking up.” Which Yang understood as an invitation to take as much time as she needed with Blake.

Blake hovered outside her office, just on the threshold of tension and release, teetering on her toes for several long moments as she looked anywhere but Yang. Like she was afraid that if she made another move, the illusion of Yang’s safety would disappear entirely.

So Yang took the first step. “I’m glad you-”

At the sound of her voice, whatever hesitations Blake had left broke completely and she launched herself into Yang’s arms, burying her face into Yang’s shoulder and grasping desperately to the back of Yang’s scrub top.

Years of being subjected to Ruby’s unexpected tackle hugs and tickle tactics prepared Yang for the sudden introduction of Blake’s weight against her frame, but not for the emotions that welled up in her throat at the feeling of Blake’s trembling body pressed up against her. She’d seen it before, the broken expressions, the nervous gaze, but now she _felt_ it, in every fibre and strand pulled taut and shaking.

Before she could even process a response, Blake began to pull away, stammering awkwardly, “I.. I’m sorry, I… don’t know what I was thinking, I shouldn’t have-”

“No, it’s okay,” Yang told her, holding her arms open again. A welcome back. An acceptance. “I’m still here.”

Blake bit her lip, unsure. As if, now that she was thinking, she was questioning. Overthinking. But she looked back into Yang’s eyes, searching for a long moment. And that seemed to be enough of a reassurance for her as she allowed herself to step back into Yang’s arms, to be pulled close.

“You came back,” Yang whispered after a long moment of stillness.

Blake just nodded, her grip tightening against Yang’s solid back. “I had to,” she said, her breath against Yang’s hair sending a chill chasing down her neck. “I couldn’t stay, he…”

 _Adam Taurus._ Yang fought a scowl even though Blake couldn’t see her face. She didn’t want to scare Blake any more than she already was. “You can trust me, Blake. You’re my patient. Anything you tell me stays with only me, okay?”

“No,” Blake shook her head, pulling away, looking skittish as she kept her eyes everywhere but towards Yang. “Please don’t say that,” Blake whispered, falling further in on herself.

Yang blinked, her lips turning down into a confused frown. “Say… what?”

“ _You’re mine_ ,” Blake echoed, and her haunted voice told Yang that Blake wasn’t really _there_ with her.

Yang wasn’t trained with a background of dealing with particular situations like this, but she knew at least the basics of helping a person ground themselves. She kept her hands at her sides, but ready, unsure if touch would be a trigger, and called out to her. “Hey, Blake? You’re okay, you’re safe. It’s Yang, you’re in my office-”

“I shouldn’t be here,” Blake spoke suddenly, snapping out of wherever her mind had chained her, however briefly. “If he finds me, he’ll find you, I can’t-”

“Blake, please-” Yang started, desperate. She couldn’t let her go. Not like this. Not again.

“I can’t-”

“I _want_ you to stay,” Yang pleaded. A last ditch effort, hopelessness rising. She shouldn’t have cared so much, it made no logical sense, but honestly she was past the point of caring by now.

Blake stopped, and Yang wasn’t sure what it was that made her reconsider. But all she cared about was that Blake was turning back around, that Blake was looking hopefully into her eyes once more. “You… _want_ me to stay?”

Yang nodded, a sudden lump in her throat catching her words all at once. “Yeah,” she said, swallowing past the scratchy emotions in her lungs. “You don’t…,” Yang gestured vaguely, her arms feeling empty, useless without their hold on Blake. “You don’t have to go. If you don’t want.”

“But.. it’s late,” Blake said. “Don’t you want to go home?”

 _Not without you,_ Yang caught herself. “I can make time for any of my patients, if they need it,” she said instead, crossing behind Blake and sinking down onto the small two-seater couch against the wall opposite of of her desk. She patted the cushion beside her.

Blake’s shoulders tightened for a moment before dropping at the earnest look on Yang’s face. “If you’re sure you don’t have to go…”

“Weiss will let us know when she’s done and it’s time to lock up, don’t worry,” Yang smiled reassuringly. “Come sit?”

Blake bit her lip, then nodded. “Okay... ,” she said, slowly sitting down next to Yang, twisting her hands in her lap. “Only if you don’t mind, because I can leave, you shouldn’t worry-”

With Blake sitting next to her, looking stiff and uncomfortable, Yang couldn’t hold back. “Blake,” she interrupted her, twisting slightly in her seat to open her posture up to her better. “It… that was _all_ I did while you were gone. I _worried_ about you. My friends thought I was losing it, maybe I was! I don’t know,” Yang shook her head, sighing heavily as she leaned back against the couch. “All I know,” she dared to the ceiling, not risking this whisper to Blake’s face outright, “was that when you walked into the clinic and I saw you… I thought you were the most special person on this earth.”

There was a long pause, and Yang couldn’t bring herself to look over at Blake. She shouldn’t have spoken so soon, she’d been so worried about scaring Blake off all this time and she probably just-

“Don’t say that,” Blake said, for the second time in as many minutes. “There’s nothing special about me,” she finished in a whisper.

“Well, whoever’s telling you that is lying,” Yang told her simply, lifting an arm to offer comfort one of the best ways she knew how. “I hope you know that.”

Blake shifted closer, her hands loosening on her lap as she leaned into Yang’s side ever so slightly. “My mother told me once. My dad too. They told me I was going to change the world,” she said, shaking her head. “But I’ve let them down.”

“Blake… I’m sure that’s not true,” Yang protested gently, rubbing her shoulder reassuringly.

“I fucked up,” Blake choked out, turning her face into Yang’s shoulder, fighting back tears. “They won’t forgive me and I can’t go back. I can’t go back to _him._ ”

“Hey, shh,” Yang soothed, reaching out with her other arm to guide Blake in closer to her embrace. “You’re okay,” she murmured against her hair as she started rocking back and forth minutely. “You’re with me.”

“I tried so hard to find you!” she spilled, as easily as the tears that started falling. Something about Yang changed _everything._ “I tried and tried and... and when I did, I.. I couldn’t get away. I just couldn’t get away from _him._ ”

“You’re here with me now though,” she said. “You’re here, Blake. And whatever’s out there, _whoever_ it is… they can’t hurt you here. Okay? _He_ can’t hurt you. Not while I’ve got you.”

After a time, Blake’s cries quieted, her body growing weary against Yang’s hold. Then she pulled away, a lifetime too soon. “This isn’t right,” she frowned, pushing away errant tears with the heel of her hand. She looked angry with herself. “This isn’t fair to you.”

“Blake, what are you-”

She stood abruptly, tension visible once more in her shoulders, in the clench of her fists. “He’s too powerful, I…,” she glanced over her shoulder at Yang, half-standing in confusion. “I don’t want him to hurt you, too.”

“What could one asshole possibly to do me?” Yang shrugged easily, but her eyes were searching Blake’s face as she stood next to her. “I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

Blake breathed out sharply in fearful disbelief. “You don’t understand what he’s like! I’ve been with him for _years_ , every time I try to leave..,” she shook her head. “He finds me. Because I have nowhere to go. I have nowhere but him.”

 _Don’t say it, don’t even think_ \- “You have _me_ now, Blake,” she said, reaching out to touch her shoulder.

Blake stepped away before Yang could even get close. “I can’t risk this,” she said. “Whenever I get close to someone, he finds out. He destroys it. I can’t… I don’t want it to happen again.”

“Please,” Yang said, stepping up to Blake’s side. She didn’t try to reach out again, but wanted to be near. “Tell me I’ll see you again, at least.”

“I want to,” she said, teetering on tiptoes before giving in without resistance to the draw of Yang’s embrace. “I can’t promise you anything, I don’t know when. But I want to, because you’re the closest thing I’ve felt to safe in a long time.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank y'all for being so patient and so kind to me as I've had such a long gap between this chapter and the previous one. I truly hope the wait will be worth it, because honestly, it's getting harder and harder for me to write this story. I still love it dearly, but I've been having a lot of doubts about the plot and the progression of the events and just.. it's been a lot. But I hope y'all enjoy this update!

Yang woke up feeling lonely. She’d been dreaming about Blake’s arms, the way they’d tightened around Yang’s frame like she was the only lifeline Blake had left. About Blake’s eyes, the way they’d drowned in the tears that poured forth. She’d been dreaming about dancing in the rain, surrounded by a downpour, yet still warm, dry and safe. Untouched, somehow. Yang’s subconscious said it was love, but that word was quickly forgotten the moment her eyes peeled back into reality.

She hated how cold her arms were. Tried not to think about the reason why they felt that way.

“Yang? Aren’t you working today?” Ruby tapped softly on her bedroom door, poking her head in after a moment when Yang didn’t really reply other than to give a muffled grunt.

“Yeah,” she mumbled, glancing over at her phone as it shrieked at her for the fifth time that morning. She slapped the snooze button once more. “Not ‘till later though.”

Ruby paused at the door, and if Yang’s face wasn’t shoved into her pillow, she would’ve seen the concerned look that crossed her sister’s face. “You’re… not going to get up?”

“Don’t want to.”

Yang heard nothing for a long moment and assumed that Ruby had left. Suited her just fine. She’d get up soon, if she was a little rushed getting ready-

“Yang!” Ruby cried suddenly, whipping the blanket’s off of Yang’s prone form without ceremony, drawing a disgruntled yell at the sudden exposure. “This has gone far enough, c’mon.”

Yang rolled over with a heavy sigh, propping herself up for no reason other than the unexpectedly determined tone in Ruby’s voice. It was very unusual for Ruby to play the reprimand card - just another reminder that Ruby was growing up, growing older. Just like Yang was. “Far enough?” she asked, still a little disoriented. The faint dream-imprint of Blake’s touch faded from her skin, leaving her cold in more ways than one without the cover of her blankets.

“Ever since Blake came by the clinic awhile ago your attitude has completely turned around!” she said, poking at Yang’s shoulder. After a moment’s consideration, “ _Again!_ ”

“I know I’m a disaster, I _know,_ okay?” Yang pushed her hand away as she got out of bed, checking her phone as she dismissed her alarm. _Shit,_ it was, like, twenty minutes later than the last few days she’d gotten up. “I just… I keep seeing her. When I dream.”

“That’s-”

“Really weird, I know!” Yang exclaimed, pushing a hand through her tangled hair with a sigh. Struggled through the knots that she hadn’t bothered to deal with in the last three days. “I don’t know what’s happening, honestly.”

“Well, maybe Weiss can help?” Ruby suggested, causing Yang to pause with a small frown pulling at her lips.

“I’m sorry - what?”

Ruby pulled her phone out of her sweats, waiting, as usual, until the last minute to get changed into her work uniform. “She said she tried to text you this morning already, but you never responded.”

“Lemme see,” Yang held her hand out.

“Well you _could_ just look at your own phone,” Ruby rolled her eyes, but handed it over anyways.

Yang quickly scanned through the text, furrowing her brow at the words. _“Ruby, would you please_ _get your sister to check her phone. If she asks, it’s about Blake. That should get her attention.”_

“Okay, well,” Yang put a hand on her hip as she gave Ruby her phone back, “first of all. Rude. As if just simply mentioning _Blake_ is gonna-”

“And… you’re opening your phone right now,” Ruby said pointedly. “I’m going to finish getting ready for work. You’re not in until later, right?" 

“Mm,” Yang hummed absently, already disregarding everything Ruby was saying to her in favour of scrolling through her texts with Weiss. She ignored the few notifications from Pyrrha asking if she was okay, because she _should_ know the answer to _that_ question by now, and scanned Weiss’ texts from this morning. Sent just minutes after Yang’s usual wake-up call.

“Kinda creepy how she knows my life schedule,” she commented to no one, not realizing that Ruby had already left the room.

“It’s because you’ve had the same schedule basically your entire life!” Ruby called back from her room. She bounced back in through the doorway, too curious to actually leave while the situation was unresolved. “You always get messed up when a girl’s involved, everyone knows-”

“Weiss says she remembers why Blake’s name was so familiar!” Yang’s eyes widened in shock, glancing up at Ruby with her phone frozen in her hand. “She wants to meet before work!”

“ _Before_ work?” Ruby scoffed a little. “Yang, you hate having your before-work routine messed with, she might as well-”

“This is _important_ though, Ruby!” Yang shouted, standing abruptly and heading to her closet to grab a pair of scrubs as Ruby blinked in shock. She knew she wouldn’t be coming back home after meeting with Weiss, she’d probably be too preoccupied otherwise-

“Whoa, Yang-”

“I-” she started in distress, wincing slightly. “Sorry,” she said, heaving a sigh and dropping her shoulders, completely unaware of the sudden tension that was tugging between her shoulder blades, twinging at the base of her skull. “Things have just been all over the place lately, sis. But I shouldn’t be taking it out on you,” she rested a hand on her shoulder, scrubs slung over one arm.

“It’s okay!” Ruby smiled at her reassuringly, covering her hand with her own, squeezing gently. “Go figure out what’s going on with Blake. I’ll be here for you, whatever happens.”

“Thanks,” she pulled Ruby into a brief one-armed hug before shooing her out of her room to get ready. “I’ll see you at work later, okay?” Then she checked her texts again, noting that Weiss had sent her another text without waiting for a response from Yang for the original text, obviously trusting that Ruby would’ve passed on her message. The location of where she wanted to meet, along with a very no nonsense, _Ten minutes, Yang_ , blinked up at her.

 _On my way,_ she texted back as she hopped into her pants and grabbed her bag with her lotions, oils and the supper that she had actually packed the night before for once, and headed out the door, barely remembering to buckle up her helmet.

It took her about ten minutes to get to the restaurant that Weiss had picked out, and already Yang could hear Weiss harping on her about it. Usually all in good fun, but there were occasions that she became very particular when it came to scheduling - mostly if it was business related or held the same level of importance. And whatever Weiss had to tell her in regards to Blake _probably_ fell into that high-level category.

“Weiss, hey,” Yang slid into the booth across from her, dropping her backpack and motorcycle helmet into the seat beside her, closest to the wall. “So you said-”

“You should know,” Weiss lifted a finger, cutting her off and pursing her lips together. And Yang knew better than to try continue speaking when she bore an expression like _that._ “This is beyond breaking patient confidentiality, Yang. I’m going against Winter’s policy by even asking to meet you here. So _no one_ can know about this, understood?”

Yang nodded nervously, folding her hands on top of the table and fiddling with her fingers, tapping her thumbs together anxiously. “Got it,” she nodded, smiling tightly at the waiter that came by and asked for a water.

Weiss looked for a long, hard moment into Yang’s eyes. “ _However,_ ” she continued, “as a friend, I did some investigating. I knew the name _Belladonna_ sounded familiar, but I wasn't entirely sure why at first. Then last night, I had to stop by father's mansion to store a few discharged patient files - which is when I realized.”

Yang bit her lip and forcibly reminded herself to drop the tension that had crawled up between her shoulder blades as Weiss opened the front flap of her soft off-white briefcase and pulled out a file folder, sliding it across the table for Yang's inspection. “What'd you realize?” Yang asked, tapping at the unmarked file curiously, waiting for Weiss’ impression before flipping it open.

“Do you remember that political scandal a few years back? During the mayoral election?”

“How could I forget,” Yang scoffed, absently spinning the folder around on the table, keeping a light touch around its center point to hold it in place. “You gloated for _weeks_ that your father was _finally_ being run against for once. And that he was actually _losing._ ”

“Excuse me, it wasn’t _weeks_!”

Yang shrugged a shoulder, flattening her palm against the file, bringing her elbow up to the table and dropping her chin into her palm. “Okay…,” she gave, because teasing Weiss further fell short of her desire to figure out where Weiss was actually going with all of this. Because, somehow, it all connected to Blake.

“Anyways…,” Weiss huffed, rolling her eyes pointedly in Yang’s direction. “Do you remember who _exactly_ he was running against?”

Yang lifted her hand off the table and let it drop with a clueless thump. “Some, political.. rival - I, seriously, Weiss, I don’t-”

“Ghira _Belladonna_ ,” Weiss cut in. "As in, Blake's _father._ "

Yang's jaw dropped open slightly, gears turning in her brain as she processed the information. "I mean, Belladonna might not mean there's a relation, there might be others-" she shook her head, wincing. Because she _did_ remember that election. That scandal. It was all anyone talked about for at least a week. _That poor girl. Didn’t seem the type. Such a shame._

Weiss tilted her head at the folder under Yang's palm, indicating with a tight expression on her face that she open it. "Everything I could find, Yang. The evidence is all right there."

Dread clawed at Yang’s stomach now as she set her thumb against the manila tab, pried it open. Hoping she wouldn’t find the truth of what she’d remembered. “I’m sorry, Yang,” Weiss’ voice drifted sympathetically somewhere above her, but it was background static as Yang scanned the sparse contents.

Only a grainy photo and two newspaper clippings lay inside. Yang’s fingers ghosted over the glossy paper first, almost immediately recognizing the figure in the photo to be Blake. Despite the blurry details, she could see Blake standing in front of a car while arms from someone out of frame had her hands pinned behind her back. Yang’s body coiled, her muscles rebelling to what her eyes were showing her.

“I never wanted to learn her name,” Yang said hollowly, flipping the photo over so that she didn’t have to feel the despair pouring off the photo in waves. But it just came right back to haunt her as she turned to the first newspaper clipping. BELLADONNA FAMILY UNDER INVESTIGATION AFTER DAUGHTER ARRESTED. “I never wanted to know any of it.”

“It wasn’t your fault you didn’t know. You were visiting Pyrrha abroad at the time, there was only so much I could tell you over text,” Weiss said, adding with a heavy sigh, “And Winter discouraged talk within the clinic. I suppose.. she thought it was best.”

Yang’s fist hit the table, rattling the cutlery, spilling water over the edge of their glasses. She hadn’t even noticed the waitress return with them. “Fucking _Jacques_. This is all him.”

Weiss fell silent for a moment at Yang’s outburst - which was far from unusual. But when Yang glanced back up, her expression wasn’t annoyed, but rather quiet in her consideration. “I had wondered… I had suspicions, of course, there were a few things that added up to be a little bit too much of a coincidence, but nothing I could prove. Nothing I could bring to Winter’s attention either, not without endangering the business…”

“Um, Weiss?” Yang arched an eyebrow, releasing her fist with a sudden extension of all fingers, as if trying to rid herself of imaginary rain clouds soaking her skin in tension.

“It seems you’ve come to the same sort of conclusion I have, Yang,” Weiss said, her tone much clearer as she came back into herself. “Why would you say that my father was involved in the Belladonna affair?”

“I-” Yang huffed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “I don’t know! But they were his competition, right? And _this_ ,” Yang gestured sharply to the file, “completely _destroyed_ them, didn’t it?”

Weiss was quick to nod, her mouth thinning to a troubling line as she continued, “When I gave you the file, I said that it contained everything I could find on his election of that year. And father keeps _very_ extensive records. The fact that two slim newspaper articles and a measly poor-quality photo were all I could find…”

“ _Highly_ suspicious,” Yang frowned, turning her attention to the second newspaper clipping in question.

“ _That_ ,” Weiss pointed, “was one other piece that didn’t quite fit into the equation, but I couldn’t shake the odd feeling that it was connected somehow.”

“Your intuition is hardly wrong, Weiss,” Yang mumbled, continuing almost absently as she scanned the article. “That’s why your patients always come back.” But her idle observations fell flat as she finally took in the article proper, causing a chill to chase down her back.

It wasn’t a headline article, like the article about the Belladonna’s before it, but the news it bore was just as disturbing, if not moreso. GANG LEADER STILL AT LARGE. Yang furrowed her brow as she read, _“The search for the leader of notorious gang, the White Fang, known only to authorities as “Red Eye” concluded last week after exhausting local resources. Just as Police Chief Ironwood gave a request for further reinforcements, an anonymous tip indicated to law enforcement that Red Eye had managed to slip out past the blockade. It is believed that the convicted felon is now in hiding and with his whereabouts currently unknown, the massive manhunt has since been called off.”_

“Called off?” Yang frowned, reaching out for her glass to take a steadying sip of water. Just to give herself something to do as her mind spun out, frayed details knitting together unwillingly like connecting synapses.

“Look at the dates,” Weiss said, her voice tight. “The gang leader escaped _a week_ after Blake was arrested.”

“Are you saying that _Blake_ is involved with the _White Fang_ ?” Yang hissed under her breath, her eyes flashing dangerously at Weiss across the table. To her credit, Weiss didn’t flinch as Yang spat, “That Blake’s… _in_ with this.. Red Eye?”

“Ten days after Red Eye escaped, the election was held,” Weiss replied calmly. “The votes came in. My father won by a landslide, which was quite an upset. Ghira Belladonna had been leading in all the polls up until Blake’s arrest. What better way to dismantle your opponent than by attacking their family, undermine their credibility?”

“You’re telling me that _no one_ else thought that Jackshit’s victory was suspicious?”

“Even if anyone did, Yang, no one would’ve dared to try anything. You _know_ just how much influence the Schnee Power Company has over this city,” Weiss said grimly, glancing over Yang’s shoulder as their waiter hovered a few steps away from their table, clearly unsure whether or not to interrupt their discussion. She waved them over.

“Yeah, only because he fucking bought out every company that got in his way,” Yang grumbled, stacking her menu on top of Weiss’. She hadn’t looked at it, but she knew Weiss would just be ordering for her anyway. Something about knowing the owner - _go figure_ \- and getting custom, off-the-menu meals. Yang could never complain anyway, it was always delicious.

“Thank you, Ilia,” Weiss smiled, handing her the menus. Silence fell as she headed back into the kitchen. Yang dipped her finger in her water, traced the rim of her glass. Condensation broke into rivers as her fingerpad slid along. “He never said why.”

Yang looked up, stalling movement. “Hm?

“Ghira. He never released an official statement about his daughter’s arrest,” Weiss explained.

“Makes sense,” Yang said. “Everyone’s entitled to their private lives.”

“Unfortunately… it just made him look even more guilty. If it was just a mistake, like his campaign manager had been saying, why hide? Why refuse to set the record straight? It would’ve restored the faith and trust his voters had in him.”

Yang slowly put the papers back into the folder, methodically stacking them on top of each other and lining them up against the fold as if that would help with the loose puzzle pieces rattling around in her brain. She closed it. Pushed it back towards Weiss. Didn’t think about it. “If this is true, Weiss… then Blake could be in more danger than I thought.”

 

 

Yang wasn’t really sure how she made it to work after that. Her thoughts were a spinning mess with all the things that Weiss had said. _Blake had been arrested? She had possible ties to the White Fang? And even worse, its leader?_ “She had to have been set up, there’s no way Blake would’ve-” Yang muttered to herself as she finished setting up her room for the work day. Then she paused, hand on the doorframe just as she was about to head back to her office. How could she possibly say something like that though? What Blake would or wouldn’t have done, what she was or wasn’t capable of? She barely knew her. Even if she felt that somehow Blake had been in her heart forever.

“Yang? You okay?” Nora’s voice jarred Yang out of her thoughts.

“Uh.. yeah, I’m good, Nora. Why?” she shrugged distractedly, tapping a finger against the frame before letting it slip down the wall as she turned to brush past Nora on her way to the breakroom.

“It’s just that you’re not wearing your scrubs,” Nora said pointedly, reaching up to poke at Yang’s shoulder. She went to tug at Yang’s hair before almost immediately thinking better of it, opting instead just to pat her on the shoulder a couple of times. “You haven’t tied your hair up either, and your first patient’s supposed to be here in ten minutes!”

Yang’s hand automatically went to her hair, wincing at the knots as she glanced down at herself. Still in jeans and a t-shirt. “Fuck,” she muttered. “I’m _fine,_ Nora,” she repeated once more as Nora folded her arms and levelled her with a _look_. But Yang _so_ didn’t have time. This situation with Blake wasn’t just a thing to tease her useless lesbian tendencies anymore. Whatever it was, it clearly encompassed something further than she originally understood. And how that _something_ meant danger for Blake. So Yang just didn’t have the time. “Late night last night watching movies with Ruby and too much sugar. That’s all.”

Nora dropped her arms at Yang’s tone, clearly sensing it best to leave the situation be. “I’ll put your files for the day on your desk while you get changed,” she simply said, leaving Yang to her own devices.

Yang shook herself, took stock of her surroundings to reorient herself as to exactly where she was in her physical space to bring her focus back to her actual job where she saw real people, real patients - ones who _weren’t Blake_ \- and headed back to her office to get ready for the day. _Properly_ this time.

When she finished up in the bathroom, spending at least an extra six minutes undoing and redoing her ponytail until she was satisfied that it looked marginally professional enough, she sat down at her desk and scanned her patient list, counting off the files that Nora had gathered for her. Four, with the last being an hour and a half long and the rest being the usual hour-long. “At least I have a break before that last patient,” she muttered to herself, giving each patient report a brief once-over just as her phone intercom beeped, announcing Nora’s voice that let Yang know that her first patient had arrived.

 _Back to normal, Yang,_ she told herself, taking a deep, centering breath before she stood up. _You can go without thinking about Blake and all the danger she probably totally is in and how she’s probably maybe hopefully not involved with the White Fang and how its leader is probably definitely after her, I bet anything…_

“Uh,” someone cleared their throat. “Yang?”

Yang blinked and found herself in the middle of the waiting room. Several people blinked up at her, a few of whom she recognized as Winter’s patients. She narrowed in on the voice that called to her. “Oh, hey Coco,” she said a little awkwardly, reaching out to shake her hand and gesture her towards her room. “Sorry I was just… in my own head.”

“So it hasn’t gotten any better?” Coco asked sympathetically as she leaned against the table while Yang closed the door behind them. “Velvet told me,” she added at Yang’s confused expression.

“Oh… right. Yeah,” Yang nodded, wincing. “I almost forgot that I saw her last week.”

“That’s because you didn’t,” Coco corrected, snapping off the single buttons of her open-backed fingerless gloves. A Coco Adel original, by the looks of the engraving on the snaps. “Nora sent her home. She said you looked burnt out,” she added as she removed her signature beret and placed her gloves inside, setting them both down on Yang’s small corner dresser.

“And that’s her professional diagnosis?” Yang teased, but her voice fell flat as Coco levelled a glare at her.

“That’s her observation as a long-time patient of yours, Yang,” she said, adding with an eye roll, “though, yeah. She did throw in some other psychobabble to describe your demeanour - but you _can’t_ tell her I called it that,” she shoved a finger at Yang’s chest.

“Hey, hey. Okay,” she put her hands up defensively, knocking the accusatory finger to the side. “Patient confidentiality, remember?”

“Speaking of which,” Coco shrugged off her coat and hung it up carefully on the hook just to Yang’s left. “I’ve been having that problem with my right shoulder again.”

Yang took a cursory glance at her posture, noting the compensation in Coco’s upper shoulder as she finished hanging up her jacket. “ _Probably_ that giant purse of yours that you absolutely refuse to put down that’s exacerbating the issue,” she raised an eyebrow as Coco lifted the said offender.

“You say that every single time,” she sighed, like it was some big inconvenience. “You should see the guns I’ve gained-”

“On your right side only?” Yang’s other eyebrow disappeared towards her hairline. “Because I’ve seen. I’ve felt, too.”

“Impressive, right?”

“Impressively imbalanced,” Yang smirked, then shook her head. “At least carry it on the left side every now and then, okay? Your girlfriend will thank you.”

“Yang!” Coco smacked the back of Yang’s head.

“I know, be professional, whatever. Just let me have this, I’ve treated you and Velv enough times to get away with it.”

“Just don’t tell Winter,” Coco recited.

“Just don’t tell Winter,” Yang repeated with a wink. “Is there anything else?” Coco shook her head as Yang turned back to the door, “Alright then, I’ll be back in a bit.”

Coco’s appointment went by smoothly, as did the two after her. Not only did regular patients make the time go by faster, they were usually the best distraction. It was easy to fall into conversations about their lives, to talk about their jobs, their classes, their kids, their pets… their lives. It probably wasn’t the _healthiest_ coping mechanism, but honestly, anything that allowed Yang to breathe and forget about her own life for even an hour was a relief. Especially with everything that happened in the morning, she needed the time to mentally take a step back.

But that respite was short-lived. Yang was just finishing up the notes from her last patient when a knock at her office door sounded. “Yep?” she called, leaning back in a satisfying stretch that popped a couple bones in her midback.

“Yang, can I come in?”

Nora poked her head into Yang’s office before stepping in and shutting the door behind her. _Okay. Unusual_ , Yang thought as she watched Nora settle in on the couch, forgoing getting comfortable as was her norm when she hung out on Yang’s couch. _Definitely strange._ “Uh, what’s up?”

“I’ve got another patient for you,” she said, glancing at the diffuser on Yang’s desk and making no comment at the way it puffed out a relaxing lavender blend.

“Could you reschedule them for tomorrow, please, I was looking forward to-”

“It’s Blake. She came back.”

At the mere mention of Blake’s name, Yang’s exhaustion evaporated in an instant. It didn’t matter that she still had one more longer treatment session waiting for her, it didn’t matter that the addition of this new appointment would mean she wouldn’t get an adequate break. It didn’t matter. It was _Blake._ She hardly knew her, but Yang would literally bend the world for her, as crazy as she knew that to sound. “When?” she managed.

“In about fifteen minutes. It’s another half hour appointment.”

Thoughts from her discussion with Weiss swarmed her mind, as if the smallest straw had been pulled from a poorly patched dam and had drowned all the rest. “Did she call?” Yang asked, as if there was any _other_ possible way that Blake could’ve contacted the clinic.

Nora nodded, bracing her palms against her knees, the bare skin beneath the hem of her pale pink skirt dipping under the pressure. Yang tried not to think about how she’d sat with Blake on that couch. How Blake had cried in her arms on that couch. “She said she was nearby and asked if you were available.”

 _Nearby…_ “Thank you, Nora,” Yang said, reaching over and shutting off her diffuser. “I’ll go and get set up for her appointment.” She gestured Nora towards the door without further comment, standing and following after her.

Setting up her treatment room for another appointment with Blake was like moving through a haze. Her mind was already flooded and uncomprehending of reality save for the one fact that Blake was nearby. That she was going to be _here_ . That she’d be here _soon_ . Her body moved through the motions, letting her muscle memory take care of the set up while her mind cycled through spirals, bouncing between compassion and confusion and back again. What she’d learned this morning from Weiss, the potential danger Blake was in with her possible ties to the White Fang, its leader, the Red Eye… there was no way it could be true. _She couldn’t be involved with such a violent gang, could she?_

And even if she was, did it even matter to Yang _at all_ ? The moment she had laid her eyes on Blake, desperate and clearly terrified yet defiant somehow, there was a connection. Yang couldn’t shake the fact that it felt like nothing else she never even knew, yet everything in the world she’d ever experienced somehow simultaneously. “They’ll all think you’re insane, Yang,” she muttered as she tied down an extra bottom sheet, before grabbing the top sheet and flicking it from the head of the table so that it drifted down, perfectly even on either side. She finished by draping the blanket over the whole set up and tugging everything flat, then stepping back and giving the whole thing a critical once-over. She’d had plenty of practice to make her routine pristine and precise, but with _Blake_ coming…

“Nothing’s wrong,” Weiss’ voice sounded from the threshold of her room.

“What?” Yang blurted, a little louder due to her jittery nerves and preoccupied thoughts.

Weiss winced, then folded her arms resolutely, glancing behind herself into the hallway where Winter’s voice could be heard drifting out from behind a sectioned off curtain a little further towards the front of the clinic. Satisfied that she was out of earshot, Weiss continued firmly, “Nothing’s wrong. So act like it.”

Nonplussed, “Everything’s just fine, Weiss, I don’t-”

“I saw your schedule change. I know she’ll be here soon. And I _trust_ that you’ll be keeping your wits about you during this appointment?”

If anything, Weiss’ _just shy_ of overt paranoia actually helped bring down Yang’s nerves. Even though she understood that the warning was entirely prudent on Weiss’ part. So she nodded, clearing her throat for a quiet response. “Of course, Weiss. I’ll use discretion, you can count on that. Everything discussed this morning stays between us.”

Weiss gave her a long look, up and down, with a gaze more scrutinizing than a patient assessment. But after a moment, a nod. “Good. Because she’s here.”

“Ah. Fuck.”

“Eloquent,” Weiss rolled her eyes and turning away. “ _Nothing’s wrong_ ,” she added pointedly over her shoulder as she walked away.

“Right,” Yang swallowed, feeling her heart catch somewhere in her windpipe, leaving her breathless. “Nothing’s wrong,” she repeated firmly, trying to tether herself to reality to stop herself from drifting out to a broken landscape that led her to Blake’s soul. _Nothing’s wrong._

And when she walked out to the waiting room to see Blake sitting there once more, nothing was.

“Hi Blake,” Yang said, hoping she didn’t sound breathless. Because there was a lobby full of patients all sitting silently, waiting for either Winter or Weiss to have an available bed free so they could receive treatment. And she had to remain professional. “It’s good to see you again,” she held out her hand as Blake stood. “Come on in.”

Blake said nothing as she shook Yang’s hand tightly. If her grip was as shaky as her smile, Yang didn’t give any indication that she noticed - though the worry crept in all the same. The silence as she followed Yang into the clinic mirrored their first meeting, and Yang had to force herself not to look out the window for the storm. Even though she had a feeling that clouds tended to follow Blake everywhere anyway.

“This is stupid,” was the first thing out of Blake’s mouth as soon as the door shut behind them.

“No, don't - Blake, don’t,” Yang stammered immediately, more taken aback by the content than the abruptness of Blake’s words. “Why are you saying this?”

Blake’s right arm wrapped around her chest, clutching tight to her shoulder as she caved in on herself, drowning. Yang’s own arms felt physical _ache_ in response, but this wasn’t the place. It wasn’t the time. She could hear voices on the other side of the wall, the sounds of work. And so her arms hung, useless, as Blake spoke up, “I had… nowhere else to go. _Again._ ” Her voice shattered on the last word.

“I’m here,” Yang whispered, because there was only so much holding back her soul could abide by. Because Blake was already thriving in her veins, living in the breaths that she had yet to even breathe. “Anything you need, tell me-”

“You,” Blake cut in, a sharp breath that carried a reverence she couldn’t control. “I just - _you._ Touch me. Heal me. _Please._ ”

There were so many things that Yang would’ve written off with a sentence like that. Would’ve taken a mental note as something to bring up at drinks with Pyrrha and Nora while regaling cringy work stories. _Massage doesn’t_ ‘heal’. _This isn’t_ that _kind of establishment. It’s just my training. Please leave._ But the thoughts didn’t surface. She just stared and Blake stared back and they were both so _raw._ Vulnerable. “Anything. I’ll give you anything.” The words fell as an offering. A hope that they would be caught, accepted. Held onto.

There was a hesitation, a flicker of Blake’s eyes and Yang found herself afraid that they’d find a home elsewhere, a place that wasn’t her soul. “You shouldn’t, I… _I_ shouldn’t be asking _anything_ of you, it’s not…,” her grip tightened over her bicep, and if she still wearing wasn’t her jacket, Yang was certain that she’d be digging enough to bleed. “I tried so hard to stay away but Adam, he… he _knew_. He always knows.”

“You’re _safe_ here with me, Blake,” Yang murmured, lifting her hand slowly as she watched Blake’s eyes track the movement. A twitch of her fingers, a soft question. Blake’s hand loosened over her arm, and Yang covered the rest, her thumb smoothing the tension from the back of her hand. “Okay?

Blake’s hand drifted up almost unconsciously, seeking more of Yang’s comfort, the warmth of her skin. But even as she sought reassurance, she shook her head. “I wish I could believe that,” she whispered, “but he has connections. _Powerful_ connections. He’ll hurt you. Badly. I _know_ he will.”

It was the second time Blake had said something similar, and as before, it struck Yang with just how fiercely sincere Blake sounded, despite her fear. But while she had dismissed the concern once before, the warning now rattled around in her head and she couldn’t help the question that spilled from her tongue, “Why do you care so much about me, Blake?”

Blake’s lips parted, her eyes darting away from Yang’s, searching for that familiar exit at her back. Her hand dropped from Yang’s, crossed her chest and clenched her other arm just as tight. “I don’t.. know, I-” she sucked in a breath, fell in a half-step closer to Yang without realizing as she continued. “There’s something _about you_ I can’t explain, Yang. I thought maybe…”

“I _do_ ,” Yang replied earnestly, picking up her thoughts and deciphering them into words of her own. “I feel it too, whatever this is. I’ve been… _god,_ ever since you walked into the clinic, you’ve been _everywhere._ I _dream_ about you. It’s - fuck,” Yang winced, running her free hand through her hair. “I know it’s crazy.”

“It’s not,” Blake said, and there it was once more, that certainty. That strength. Her hand slipped out from under Yang’s on her arm and caught her other hand on its way down. She gripped it tight, cupped it close to her heart with both hands now. “After everything, I never… I didn’t think I’d ever get away from him. I never had a reason. Not until you.”

Yang tried not to shiver at the way Blake’s hands wrapped around hers, but the tremor came and she had no will to stop it. “You would’ve given yourself a reason, Blake,” Yang breathed, tightening her grip on Blake’s shoulder. “You’re like, brave as hell.”

“I’m not-” she started, shaking her head. Looking away.

“You _are_ ,” Yang insisted, lifting Blake’s chin with a gentle touch. Blake’s hands remained loose around Yang’s as their eyes met once more. “You came here in the middle of a fucking thunderstorm. You left him, what? Two times now? And each time I see you, I-” she swallowed, sliding her fingers along her jawline. “You’re stronger each time.”

Blake’s eyes bounced back and forth between Yang’s, her brow furrowed slightly as if she was searching for something. Her breath was warm against Yang’s thumb, drifting a little too close to the corner of her lips, and Yang wondered what Blake saw, looking at her like that. Because all Yang knew for certain was that she was _more_ than ready to make a home from the molten gold of Blake’s irises. “You’re actually real, aren’t you?” Blake breathed, more to herself than as a question that demanded an answer.

Yang huffed out a laugh, the corners of her lips quirking upwards in a grin. “Yeah. I think I am.”

“So…,” Blake said, turning her face in Yang’s palm, brushing the barest of touches of her lips against Yang’s skin. “What now?”

“Well, uh,” Yang said after a long pause, somehow managing to pull her gaze out of Blake’s even though the heat against her fingertips burned red. She glanced around herself, gesturing to the table. “How about we do what you actually came here for?”

Blake started, and Yang stifled another laugh. “I.. forgot, I didn’t…,” she stammered, but her hesitation came from confusion rather than stress and fear. "I just came here for you," she finished softly.

Yang swallowed, extremely aware of her skin, her hand placement. The sensitivity of her touch was more acute than most, but _this_ \- everywhere she connected to Blake… it was all heightened to the nth degree. “Luckily for you,” Yang cleared her throat, not trying so much to lighten the mood as she was just attempting to give the air room to breathe around them. “I do have skills other than being charming.”

Blake laughed as Yang absently tucked Blake’s hair behind her ear, squeezing her hand before stepping back from the touch entirely, turning to the table and folding the sheets down, an indication to Blake to lay on the table. “You don’t need to get a gown or anything for me?” she asked, settling down, the atmosphere so much lighter than their first time together in this room.

Yang glanced at the clock, considered for a half second too long about asking Nora to cancel her last patient of the day so she could have all the time she wanted with Blake. But she shook her head, both at Blake’s question and at herself, knowing that that wouldn’t be fair. “No, no. We’ll just work on your head and neck again, if that’s what you’d like?” Yang paused, making sure Blake had nodded before reaching back to the switch and dimming the lights. “Then you can just take off your jacket and lay on your back there and let me take care of you.” The last words slipped out softer than she’d intended, but anything less than gentle felt obscene. If nothing else, Blake deserved a gentle touch.

With Blake settled underneath the sheet, blanket tucked neatly around her, Yang rolled close to the table on her stool and settled her hands on Blake’s shoulders. She pushed gently, one at a time on either shoulder and - “If I remember right, this feels much better than last time.”

“I think just being around you is helping, Yang,” Blake hummed, her eyes drifting closed as Yang gently lifted her head up with one hand, gathered her hair and swept it neatly out of the way.

“Well I hope so,” she replied, pumping a bit of lotion onto her palm then rubbing her hands together. “I’m just going to work underneath your collar here a bit, is that alright?”

“Do what you need to. I trust you.”

Yang paused, almost shook her head in disbelief just as she was about to start her work. She didn’t really know what Blake’s life was like, or much about her at all, really. And yet, even with Blake knowing only knowing slightly more about Yang, she found that the phrase seemed _easy_ for Blake to say. “I’ll get you to take a deep breath in,” she murmured, trying to keep her voice level as she matched her own instructions. Exhaled, then, “And.. out. Good.”

Blake’s breathing remained even and steady as Yang worked the short amount of time on her neck, focusing mostly at the base of her skull because she didn’t want to get Blake’s shirt too greasy from the lotion she used. And the work was the most relaxing experience Yang had had for herself _personally_ in a long time. Even though her meeting with Weiss flitted over in the edges of her conscious, it didn’t bother her. Blake was _here_. Blake was with her. Whatever her past, however true the connections to the White Fang may or may not have been… none of that mattered with Blake here, looking peacefully at rest under Yang’s ministrations.

An infinity passed within the remaining minutes that Yang could give to Blake without worrying about being rushed for her next patient. “Hey, Blake?” Yang said, mindful of her ears as she finished up at her temples. “We’re all finished here,” she said, quieter this time because even though she needed Blake to know that they were finished, she also couldn’t bear to disturb her.

“Hm?” Blake yawned, blinking as her ears twitched while she came back into herself. “Oh, I-” she started, eyes darting. “I’m so sorry, I.. must’ve fallen asleep a bit.”

“Hey, you’re okay,” Yang replied gently, recognizing the panic in the way her eyes bounced around. “Look at me,” she said, keeping her hands steady on either side of Blake’s head, hoping to be a point of grounding for her. She didn’t continue until Blake’s eyes had settled within hers. “It’s okay that you fell asleep! Means that I’m doing something right, you know? If you can fall asleep in the hands of someone who’s practically a stranger-”

The sentence felt wrong to even _say,_ but it was Blake’s suddenly darkened expression that made Yang frown. “You’re _not_ a stranger,” she said, and her tone was sharp. She was closing in on herself. She sat up, pulling away from Yang in more ways than just physical. “You’re _more_ than that,” she finished, her tone a low-hanging thundercloud.

Yang slowed shifted to the side of the table, still on her stool, wanting Blake to see her, to trust the sincerity on her face. She brought the table down a bit to put them more on an equal level, but otherwise made no move to offer further physical contact. “You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?” she asked softly.

Blake folded inwards, shoulders lifting protectively, tension rising high as she wrapped her arms around her knees. Her head gave a tiny jerk, like she wanted to deny the statement, but couldn’t bring herself to lie. She said nothing.

“You don’t have to tell me anything,” Yang reassured her. “Your pace, okay? Your limits. You set the rules. I know we’re not… this isn’t-” she scratched at her scalp a little awkwardly, but Blake’s eyes shot over to Yang’s at the near implication laid bare. “I don’t want to overstep, that’s all. Whenever you’re ready to let me in. That’s all your choice.”

Blake lifted her head from where she had it half-buried in her arms, her expression nearly unreadable. But she loosened the knots, untangled an arm from herself, and reached out to take Yang’s hand. “Maybe we could be,” she murmured, tightening her grip around Yang’s. Her voice drifted, far away, “If I could be strong enough to leave him.”

“You _are_ strong Blake. I know that,” she replied, squeezing back. To the rest, she had no answer.

Yang handed Blake her coat back after the appointment was finished and walked together with her out of the room, since she didn’t need the privacy of getting redressed. She resisted the urge to take Blake’s hand again as they walked side by side, if not for the sake of professionalism then for her reassurances to Blake. “Okay, well,” Yang shrugged her shoulders, glancing at the clock absentmindedly. “It was good too see you, I hope-”

“That’s the time?” Blake interrupted, freezing imperceptibly for a moment before digging into her pockets, pulling out a wallet this time.

“Yeah, I tried to give you a bit more-”

“I have to go. Now,” she said, pressing bills hurriedly into Yang’s hands before rushing out the door without another word.

Other patients in the waiting room gave Yang peculiar looks and she gave them a tight smile as she covertly slid the bills into her pocket before ducking behind the front desk and into the file room where Nora’s curious eyes followed. “ _Again,_ ” Yang muttered as she leafed through the bills handed to her.

On the pretext of scanning through a file, Nora followed her, fingers absently slipping along file stickers as she replied. “She gave you too much?”

“Yeah, at least - _jesus_ ,” she hissed out a breath. “There’s twice as much here than what the actual charge was supposed to be.”

“She doesn’t _look_ like she’s made of money,” Nora commented in return, pulling a random file down from the shelf and flipping through the pages. Maybe she _was_ actually looking for some patient information - she was very good at multitasking after all. In a lower voice, “Do you think she’s stealing it?”

Yang’s thoughts flashed to her conversation with Weiss once more, nearly forgotten in Blake’s presence, and her possible connections to the White Fang. “Maybe only from people who stole it first,” she said, folding the bills up and tucking them into one of Nora’s hidden skirt pockets. “I have another patient to get ready for,” she said, dodging around her and heading back to her room for her last patient.

 

 

It was nearly another two and a half weeks before she saw Blake again. She actually saw her name scheduled in for an appointment the day before, which resulted in a night that was nearly sleepless. And what little rest she managed to get was filled with dreams of Blake’s smile.

Ruby rode with Yang to work that next morning, allowing Yang an excuse as to why she was a full hour early to work that day. She could blame it on the fact that Ruby started earlier than her, that it was such a nice day outside, that Ruby _begged_ her to please let her ride on the back of Bumblebee. Any excuse other than the barely hidden fact that she just wanted time to pass faster until she saw Blake again.

She pulled into the backlot of the clinic and parked, her body humming with an energy that she could barely contain. Ruby followed her into the clinic without a single comment, the both of them passing by Nora who _also_ gave no comment on Yang’s early arrival. The silence on Nora’s part was the most telling, meaning she knew _exactly_ what was going on. She must’ve seen Yang’s schedule and pieced it together. Like it was hard.

But since Blake’s appointment wasn’t until her second slot of the day, with two after her, she knew she was going to have to burn off some of her excess energy and nerves if she was every going to be able to focus on work. So she hit the weights in the rehabilitation center at the front of the clinic which were normally reserved for patients recovering from injuries, but staff usage was an exception that Winter allowed, providing that the therapists never took equipment away from patients.

She grabbed the 30lb dumbbells  - the heaviest the clinic had, unfortunately - and settled onto an exercise ball, rolling out into a smooth plank before starting her bench presses. She made it about twelve reps into her first set when-

“Thirty, huh? Bet that’s your max.”

Yang opened her eyes at the familiarly obnoxious voice. “Junior,” she greeted flatly, continuing on with her reps. She glanced around him, noting the empty clinic. For now. It’d get busier after lunch hour, which meant that for the time being… “You’re here because a girl broke your wrist for grabbing her ass again?”

Junior spluttered indignantly at that and Yang smirked at how easy it was to reduce such an _apparently intimidating_ man to such a pathetic mess with just a few words. “I, well-”

“Junior? Winter’s ready for you,” Nora interrupted, drawing the curtains around a table and gesturing to the closed off space.

“Yes, uh, of course… right..”

Yang shifted one weight into the same hand so that she held the two dumbbells in one hand. She kept up with her bench presses as she waved cheekily with her free hand. “Give him shit, Winter,” she called, earning her a glare over Junior’s shoulder as Winter swept the curtain shut.

“Winter’s gonna kill you one of these days, I swear,” Nora sing-songed to her as Yang switched both weights to the other hand to even things out. “Want to borrow my set?” Nora asked, eyeing the weights.

Yang debated, then waved her free hand. “I don’t want you to go to all the trouble of getting them out, so don’t worry about it. Just working off some nerves.”

Nora nodded, then went back to the front desk to continue her work. She didn’t have to ask Yang what the cause of her nerves was.

Twenty minutes later, several patients arrived all at once after lunch hour, and Winter gave Yang a pointed _look_ as she checked in on her patients. Yang finished up her last few push ups before wiping down the dumbbells she’d used and setting them back in their rack. Then she went to set up her room for a full day of five patients, Blake included.

She worked on her first patient in a distracted haze, her hands moving on autopilot without much awareness of what she was actually feeling. She only really mentally checked in for the occasional comment and to request that the patient turn over. At the end of it all, the woman on the table - _was her name Octavia?_ \- seemed to be relaxed and satisfied, so honestly, Yang couldn’t even bring herself to feel guilty over it.

As soon as Octavia - _Ember,_ according to her file - had left, Yang scribbled the last few notes down in her report and went to strip the sheets in preparation for her next appointment. Blake. She fumbled with the knots that kept the bottom sheet tied flat to the table for a moment, cursing under her breath and trying to calm herself down. “You’d think I’d be _less_ panicked the more times she comes,” Yang rolled her eyes at herself, bundling everything up in her arms and heading to the laundry room to toss the sheets into the hamper for the next load.

She was just returning to her room with fresh sheets when, with the briefest absentminded glance towards the waiting room, she saw Blake, already sitting down in the same seat as before. She looked slightly more comfortable than her first time in the waiting room, but she still hunched in her seat. Still tried to be small.

“Hey, Blake?” Yang poked her head around the corner, sheets still under her arm. She waved when Blake glanced up, gave a small smile. “I just gotta set up, I’ll just be real quick, okay?”

“No, don’t worry,” she smiled tightly back, her eyes glancing towards the door. “I’m early. Take your time.”

“Won't be long!” she reassured brightly, wanting to put her at ease. Just as she was about to head back to her room, the front door opened behind her, and out of the corner of her eye, she caught Blake’s nervous flinch. She started to turn again, to make sure Blake was alright, when the sight of two uniforms stopped her cold.

“Can I help you, Officers?” Nora asked, her tone slightly more flinty than usual. She made eye contact with Yang over the woman’s shoulder and shook her head ever so slightly. _Don’t get involved._

The woman’s partner spoke, his voice gravelly and lowered in apparent concern. “We’d like to speak to the owner of this establishment,” he flipped open his wallet, flashing his badge briefly at Nora.

“Of course, but may I ask what this is in regards to?” Nora spoke, holding her ground unflinchingly.

“It’s best if we speak to the owner in private, ma’am,” the woman spoke, a little more softly, as if the _good cop_ would be more effective in this situation.

Nora locked eyes with Yang again, flicked them sharply away with a lift of her eyebrows. _Go on._ Yang bit her lip, frowning tightly. “I’ll be right back for you Blake,” Yang muttered, not entirely sure if Blake would hear her quiet words.

She dumped the clean linens back into her room before hurrying out to find Winter. “Is she in with a patient?” she asked Jaune, not wanting to draw attention to the situation.

“Nah, she’s in her office. On a call, I think. She said something about not wanting to be disturbed!” he called after her as Yang strode to the back of the clinic, ignoring him.

She allowed Winter’s privacy two sharp knocks before opening the door without invitation. “Miss Xiao-!” she exclaimed indignantly, covering her phone.

“There are two officers at the front desk wanting to speak with you,” she said shortly. “And no,” she continued just as Winter opened her mouth, “They wouldn’t say why.”

Winter narrowed her eyes, the corners of her lips turning down in a pointed frown. “Very well,” she nodded, clearly dismissing Yang. “I will finish this conversation at another time, Father,” she finished as Yang went back to her room.

She quickly set up the table, draping the blanket over the sheets just as Winter strode past her door at a swift, power-walking pace. As eager as Yang was to get Blake and take her in for her appointment, she waited in her room until Winter had passed by once more, police officers in tow. She shook off the cold feeling that their presence brought and finally made her way back to Blake. “Come on in Blake,” she said, forgetting about appearances and squeezing her shoulder. “Sorry about all that.”

“No, it’s… fine,” she murmured, glancing down the hallway towards where they’d all disappeared into Winter’s office. “Um, is there something wrong?”

“Nah, I don’t think so,” Yang spoke past a lie. There was absolutely no reason Yang could think of that would bring cops to the clinic - Winter ran a spotless record. “Nothing we need to worry about.”

“Alright…,” Blake reluctantly agreed.

“My main concern right now is _you_ though,” Yang said, attempting to bring levity back to the situation. She should’ve known it wouldn’t-

“Me? Is there… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-”

“No, shit, no, I meant...  sorry,” Yang winced at herself. “Poor joke, I’m sorry. Not a fan of cops, that’s all.”

“Me either,” Blake said quietly, staring at the floor.

“I only wanted to ask about how I can help you right now. Anything in particular that you’d like me to work on?”

Blake’s hand found her shoulder, almost experimentally. “Well, I-”

A knock on the door, followed by Winter’s voice. “Miss Xiao Long?”

Yang’s brow furrowed. “I am _so_ sorry, Blake, I…,” Blake tilted her head in indication as Yang opened the door. “Yeah?”

“I do apologize for the intrusion, but an urgent matter has made itself known,” Winter spoke quickly, looking more grave than usual. Which was saying something. “May I speak with you in my office? It won't be more than a couple of minutes.”

“Uh… sure, I-” she glanced back at Blake, who looked frozen. “Blake, if you want you can just lay down on the table, get comfortable, I’ll just…”

“That’s okay, Yang. I’ll be fine,” Blake said. Her words sounded stilted, far-off.

 _One crisis at a time,_ she thought to herself, careful not to cross any boundaries with Winter standing right outside. She followed Winter out, closing the door on Blake’s unmoved frame, mentally forcing herself to focus on the situation at hand. “What did they say to you?” But Winter only kept walking, ushering Yang into her office and shutting the door. “Uh… what’s this all about?”

“Miss.. Yang Xiao Long, correct?” the female officer reached out to shake Yang’s hand. Yang nodded. “Officer Mulberry. Sam.”

“Right, yes. Officer Fallow, would you please tell me why you had me call my associate here?” Winter said, turning to address the male officer, not wasting any time.

“Of course,” Officer Fallow said, shuffling awkwardly through a few papers that he’d pulled from a file folder. Yang covered a satisfied smirk despite the seriousness of the situation - it was always refreshing to watch men fall to pieces in the face of Winter’s completely unaffected attitude. “We received an anonymous tip about a week ago about some possible counterfeit money that was being passed through this clinic.”

Yang’s mind raced, thinking back to Blake, barely dry, digging bills out of her pocket and insistent that Yang not give her any change. Blake overpaying almost twice over the charged appointment amount then rushing out of the clinic. “And how is Miss Xiao Long involved in this matter?” Winter asked sharply, pulling Yang out of her thoughts. _One crisis at a time,_ she forcibly reminded herself. Except now that they might just be one and the same…

“We believe that the counterfeit money was used to pay for a massage appointment,” Officer Mulberry replied.

“We have more than one massage therapist who works in this clinic-”

“We noticed that Miss Xiao Long appears to work the most hours, according to her availability on your online booking system, so-”

“And _until_ you can prove to me,” Winter continued, overriding Officer Fallow icily, “that the money was without question used to pay for Miss Xiao Long’s services, I would please ask that you let return to her work, which you have so rudely interrupted.”

“Of course, ma’am,” Officer Mulberry replied gently in an attempt to mollify her. “We’ll let you get back to your patient, miss.”

“Sure thing…,” Yang said slowly, hoping that her tone didn’t give away any of the racing thoughts in her head. She ducked out of the office, exhaling a sharp breath after shutting the door behind herself. “Shit,” she muttered, shaking her head to clear some of the chaos before heading back to her room.

“Uh, Yang-” Nora’s voice called from the front desk.

Yang ignored her, knocking on the door and calling out Blake’s name. “Can I come in?” she asked. Paused. Leaned closer when she didn’t hear anything. “Blake?”

“Yang-!"

She opened the door after a further silence. “Blake, are you-?” But the room was empty.

Yang turned in confusion in the now empty space as Nora approached slowly. “She left, Yang,” Nora said quietly, her demeanour akin to one trying to placate a threatened bear. “After you followed Winter into her office, she just… left.”

“Blake… left? No, she wouldn’t - that doesn’t make any sense!” Yang snapped, tearing back the sheets as if somehow Blake would be under them.

“She’s gone, Yang. I’m sorry.”

 

Keeping it together for the rest of the work day was… more than a little difficult. Not that Yang would admit it, and not that anyone would call her out on it and send everything falling apart. It was more than just the fact that Blake disappeared on her, though that cut Yang deeper than she cared to quantify or reason with. The whole situation, the police arriving, Blake’s reactions, her nervousness... Yang didn’t want to believe it, but…

“Her involvement with the White Fang is looking more and more likely,” Yang muttered to Weiss at the end of the day as they found themselves sitting on Yang’s couch, far from relaxed. Yang had already finished her work for the day and had sat herself down on the couch, fiddling with her wooden puzzle to pass the time until Ruby was done work so they could ride home together. Weiss had seen her hunched over, staring blankly and decided to join her.

“It appears that way,” she said carefully, leaving out her usual dry jabs to spare Yang’s stress.

“We’re gonna… we’ll have to do something, won't we?” Yang said, the puzzle coming unravelled in her hands, spinning out of control in an attempt to solve. “Next time we see her, which - who _knows_ how long that could be, with her taking off like that, we have no idea-”

“Yang,” Weiss said, sharply enough to cut Yang’s babbling off, but the hand on her arm was gentle. Reassuring. “We’ll figure this out, okay? You’re right, we don’t know when she’s going to come back. So until then, we have to keep things under control. No doing anything rash.”

Yang scoffed, but her voice had returned to its normal pitch. “Since _when_ have I ever done anything rash, ever, in my whole life.”

Weiss levelled an unamused glare at her, folding her hands as if praying for patience. “We _all_ remember what happened with Raven, Yang,” she said pointedly.

“Right…,” she scratched her head awkwardly, shifting on the couch when she had nothing else to say.

Thankfully, Ruby spared the awkward silence only two minutes later, poking her head into Yang’s office. “I’m all finished, sis! You ready to go?”

“Well,” Yang stood heavily, offering a hand to Weiss out of habit. “Since I’m the one driving, I should hope that I’m ready.”

“Take it easy tonight, alright Yang?” Weiss said quietly, squeezing her hand gently before letting go.

“I’ll try my best, chief,” Yang tossed a lazy salute, but her answering smile was just as soft. “Let’s go, Rubes,” she said, grabbing her helmet and backpack from underneath her desk and heading to the back door where Nora was waiting.

“Ready for lockup?” she chirruped, flipping open the cover for the alarm system.

“Yep!” Yang said, reaching her arms out in a big, obnoxious stretch, ruffling Ruby’s hair on the way back down. Ruby grumbled, swinging her helmet at Yang’s butt while Weiss rolled her eyes at their antics, huffing in annoyance.

“Come _on_ you two, it’s time to exit the building,” Weiss said, her voice tipping up in exasperation as she folded her arms while the alarm beeped.

“Yeah, yeah, we’re getting there Weiss, would you just-”

Yang stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes landing on a dark shape next to her bike. Even with eyes adjusting from fluorescents to a single security light above the door that barely pierced the evening twilight, Yang knew who it was. “You came back,” Yang breathed, drifting forward. Hardly daring to believe it.

Her features drew themselves out of the half-light as Yang stepped closer. She didn’t look up as Yang approached, just kept holding herself tight as if looking to disappear. “I needed you,” she whispered quietly. Everything else was silent. “I… I can’t explain it, _you_.. there’s something-”

“Blake,” Yang said, stopping as close as she dared, holding out her hand. Waiting for the choice. “I know.”

Blake shook her head violently, shifting just the slightest amount away from Yang’s comfort. “You don't. Not… not _everything_ ,” she shuddered.

Yang bit her lip. Pressed forward. “Try me,” she whispered right back, ghosting her fingertips down Blake’s arm, coming to rest at her elbow.

“I…”

“Come with me,” she urged when she felt Blake press back into her touch. “I’ll take care of you.”

There was a long pause. Bated breath. Yang waited, knowing that this could all fall apart if Blake said no. If Blake turned away and became another person who left her, used her. But she’d come back. And now… “Okay,” she nodded, stepping into her arms, allowed Yang to fold around her, envelop her. “ _Please_.”

“I think she’ll need this then,” Ruby’s voice spoke up gently behind her. “I’ll stay at Weiss’ tonight, okay Yang?”

Yang looked over, the world forgotten when it narrowed down to lilac and gold. She smiled over at Ruby who was holding out her silver helmet. “Thanks, sis,” she nodded at them as they walked to Weiss’ car together. “C’mon Blake. Let’s get you out of here.”


End file.
